Olympian Andy Butchart put pupils through their paces this week at the launch of Stirling High’s Marathon Challenge, which was created to encourage physical activity, strengthen House identity and promote the inaugural Stirling Scottish Marathon, which takes place on Sunday 21st May 2017.
The Challenge will be completed over the course of four school weeks and each week there will be a different challenge for the pupils to complete outwith school time.
Week One is ‘Clock the Miles’ – and challenges pupils to run/walk as far as they can in the week. Week Two will involve pupils trying to match Mo Farah’s last mile speed for at least one mile. Week Three will involve a group task and run/walk as part of a big group, while Week Four will see pupils walking/running up to the finish line at Stirling Castle.
To launch the event, Olympic athlete Andy Butchart ran a mile with all the pupils who are taking part in the event, and spoke to pupils about some of his experiences, particularly in Rio at the Olympics.
Each pupil will gain a House Point for taking part in the Marathon Challenge and there will be additional points on offer for those who complete the various tasks. The pupils’ distances will be tracked using the Strava App and those who do not have a smartphone will be tracked using a pedometer.
Stirling High Head Teacher Paul Cassidy said: “On behalf of the Stirling High School Learning Community I would like to thank Andy for giving his time to talk with our young people and to run with them. Andy’s achievements are both an inspiration and an example of what can be achieved through hard work and determination. Our young people will develop their health and well-being through being inspired to by Andy to take part in our Marathon Challenge.”
Earlier this week Borestone Primary also launched the Borestone Marathon, which gives all children the opportunity in the run up to the 21st May to complete the equivalent marathon distance. Younger children will be tracking their individual progress around the route of the Stirling Scottish Marathon and older children will be charting their progress and trying to improve their own performance. A whole school celebration with families is planned for Friday 20th May, starting with a family picnic, then a family mile and a competitive mile for fastest children from each age group.
Borestone Primary Head Teacher Gillian Robertson said: “We’ve used the Stirling Marathon as a catalyst for holding our own event in school. There’s a great deal of excitement and some healthy competition already. We’re committed to improving children’s health and wellbeing and are making the most of this opportunity to inspire our children to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.”
Entries are now closed for the full Stirling Scottish Marathon but spaces are still available for the 5k (for those 14 years or over) and Family Run (for children aged 3 - 13). More information can be found at http://www.greatrun.org/stirling-scottish-marathon .