Launched in December, Run Everyone has already seen hundreds of entrants from businesses across Cambridge. Caitlin is the Wellbeing Advisor at Arm. She said: “At Arm, we encourage all of our employees to exercise for both their mental and physical health. This event gives us an opportunity to work together, regardless of fitness level, to compete against each other and other businesses, with their health remaining our priority. It will be a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to it.”
Running is widely recognised as an activity to improve mental health and help deal with stressful situations. Research conducted by ASICS found that running improves more than just physical health, with 82% of UK runners agreeing that running helps to clear their mind and 78% said that exercise makes them feel saner and more in control.
Adam Moffat, Director of the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon, said: “This is as an incredibly stressful time for people and with no fixed date when the lockdown will end, it is important that we have a focus and something positive to get involved in. Run Everyone has been specifically designed to work during lockdown. People can run alone, with dogs, pushchairs or with a running partner in line with current restrictions, but their efforts will contribute to their teams’ overall score. We hope that many teams will join us, whatever their ability, to create a great Cambridge virtual running event throughout the month of March that we can all enjoy and be proud of.”
Run Everyone is a fundraising event and supports national and local charities, including CPSL Mind, which supports people with mental health problems across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire. Zoe Doherty, Fundraising Consultant for CPSL Mind, said: “January is typically a hard time for many, but this new lockdown is going to make it particularly tough. Run Everyone is a fantastic new initiative from the TTP Cambridge Half organisers that gives people a sense of community as well as a reason to get outside and exercise. We want everyone to be able to talk openly about their mental health and encourage any activity that helps people to do so. Now that the race is open to everyone, we encourage as many people to get involved as possible. We certainly will be!”
To sign up to Run Everyone, get running and raise money for this and many other excellent causes, visit: www.cambridgehalfmarathon.com/virtual