- Minister Varadkar exclusive on Fitness in era of expanding budgets
- Why Fitness fits for Philip Lee Solicitors
- Expanding parkrun nationwide
- Physical and mental fitness important to stay balanced in politics
The popular parkrun initiative will go nationwide this summer, extending to 29 locations, thanks to a new partnership initiative and €100,000 in funding from the Department of Health and the HSE.
The Government money is coming through the Healthy Ireland section of the Department of Health and the new partnership supporting park run Ireland also involves Athletics Ireland, the Irish Sports Council and Phillip Lee Solicitors.
Park run was originally started in the UK in 2004 with 13 volunteers. It now exists in 12 countries around the world and this is the fourth year it will have been in existence here. So far 37,000 runners have take part in the 5K events it organises each week in Irish parkland settings.
Thanks to this new partnership, up to six new parkrun events are now being planned which will effectively make it a nationwide initiative.
“Parkrun offers fantastic opportunities for people to take part in a 5k run in a fun and positive environment,” said Leo Varadkar who set a new precedent for Health Ministers by togging out in his running gear for a photocell in Merrion Square yesterday alongside John Treacy the new CEO of Sport Ireland.
“I’m delighted that parkrun is going to be supported by Healthy Ireland because it’s very effective and has a proven success rate.”
“People who are active are more likely to live healthy and happy lives. I really want to encourage more people to be physically active in Ireland and this is a great way to do just that.”
Speaking exclusively to Sport for Business before the event Minister Varadkar said that he fully supported the idea of spending on prevention.
“We already have a successful screening programme that is geared towards preventing illness, as well as vaccination programmes and a successful Quit smoking series of supports.”
“The benefits of physical exercise are obvious for physical and mental fitness. It certainly helps keep me balanced when things get rough as they do from time to time in politics.”
“Now that we are in an era where budgets are expanding rather than contracting we have the option of looking at fitness ideas like this and enabling them through support either directly or through partnerships.”
“Even though the long term case could be well argued it was impossible to tell a cancer patient today that their treatment could not happen because we needed to pay for somebody to be healthier in 20 years time.”
“There is something about the parkrun ethos of family and community that fits well with the Irish culture,” added parkrun Country Manager Matt Shields.
“With the support we have received at all levels from government to grass roots, it is hardly surprising that parkrun in Ireland has been such a success.”
“In two years, we have established 29 events to date with six more coming soon and the prospect of junior parkrun for 4-14 year olds also close.”
“We see parkrun as an ideal way for people of all ages to get involved in exercise through running in a friendly non-competitive environment,” said John Foley, CEO of Athletics Ireland.
“Many of the Athletics Ireland clubs are volunteering every week to assist with the runs and a number of the participants are joining their club Fit4Life groups which meet regularly.”
The new commercial sponsor was also represented with partner Alice Whittaker saying “Philip Lee is delighted to be one of the main supporters of parkrun in Ireland. We have a strong ethos of encouraging the promotion of sport, health, community and positive initiatives within the firm. As a fantastic community based initiative, parkrun is the perfect fit for Philip Lee which is full of avid runners and sport fans.”
Finally Dr Cate Hartigan, Assistant National Director Health Promotion and Improvement in the HSE also welcomed today’s announcement saying: “We are delighted to continue to support parkrun in 2015 and to make it part of our Healthy Ireland programme. Encouraging more communities to be active and to see the enormous benefits that this can bring, is one of the most important changes that we all want to see in Ireland.”
