Regent's Park to host 5km fun run and walk

Around 1000 staff members from six London boroughs and the Royal Parks are set to take part in a 5km race on 2 April.

Starting from The Hub in Regent's Park at 6.30pm, the event will be the climax of 12 weeks of training which have been taking place since January 2008. This initiative has been developed from a partnership between PRO-ACTIVE Central London, six borough sport and physical activity teams and staff from the Hub community project. By entering the race participants automatically make a donation to charity and over £5000 is expected to be raised.

A prize-giving ceremony led by a special guest presenter will take place on the Hub terrace after the race. Prizes will be awarded to the top three males and females overall; the most committed participant in each borough; and the most improved participant in each borough.

Spectators are welcome and can support the race from any point around the 5km route. The route takes place within the northern areas of Regent's Park, taking in the Hub, The Broad Walk and both Gloucester and Cumberland Greens.

Angus Robertson, PRO-ACTIVE Central London Partnership Director said: "By targeting local authority employees of all abilities including less active individuals, we have provided a great opportunity for participants to increase their physical activity levels."

Paul Eales, England Athletics National Partnership Manager said: "JogEngland are delighted to be involved with this project and welcome the opportunity to develop their jogging network programme more extensively with all partners in the months to come within the London Boroughs."

Sean Holt, Director of Sport England London said "This is a great opportunity for staff to not only take part in a great sports activity but also work as a team to encourage, motivate and coach each other to get more involved in sport in a fun way. We invested £2.44 million of lottery funding in the fantastic Regent's Park Hub and it's great to see that it has become a real focal point for sport in the capital - helping more Londoners of all ages to get active."

Notes to Editors

• This event is sponsored by PRO-ACTIVE Central London and is supported by The Royal Parks and JogEngland (England Athletics).
• Mayors from Camden and Lambeth will attend the event.
• The guest presenter is Chris Tomlinson, Long Jump silver medallist at the Indoor World Championships in 2008.

• PRO-ACTIVE Central London is one of five sub-regional sport and physical activity partnerships funded by Sport England operating across Greater London. The Central London partnership covers the boroughs of Camden, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth and the City of Westminster.
• Vision: A more physically active London
• Aim : Increase regular participation in sport and physical activity across all sectors of the population and all communities within Central London
• PRO-ACTIVE Central London is the strategic lead for sport and physical activity in Central London
• They are part of the national County Sports Partnership network
• They aim to maximise the legacy for sport and physical activity from the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics

For more information please visit: www.pro-activecentrallondon.org

• The Hub Sports Pavilion is located inside the northern periphery of the Outer Circle in Regent's Park. It is a multi-use community sports pavilion and cafe open seven days a week.
• The Royal Parks Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
• The Royal Parks are: Bushy Park, The Green Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, Richmond Park and St James's Park.

For more information please visit: www.royalparks.org.uk

• Jog England is a national jogging network that provides and co-ordinates jogging groups around England. JogEngland has been established by the National Governing Body, England Athletics.

Sport England:

• Sport England invested £2.44million of lottery funding into the project. The total project cost was £3.85 million.
• Sport England has been a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting playing fields since August 1996. Sport England objects to any application that is detrimental to sport, unless alternative provision of at least equivalent value is found elsewhere.

For more information visit: www.sportengland.org

For further press information or images please contact:

PRO-ACTIVE: Central London
Ruth Shaw: 020 7815 7802 or shawr@lsbu.ac.uk

The Royal Parks:
Katy Murray: 020 7298 2128 or kmurray@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

JogEngland:
Paul Eales: peales@englandathletics.org

Sport England London
Shareena Ali: shareena.ali@sportengland.org

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