Keep Er Lit club hosts first Junior Parkrun

THE Keep Er Lit Running Club in Coalisland launched their first Junior Parkrun on Sunday in association with Parkrun UK.

The first junior Parkrun of its kind in Mid-Ulster, it welcomes young people aged 4-14 to the Washing Bay Wetlands Park on the Ballybeg Road for a free weekly 2km run every Sunday morning at 9.30am.

The Keep Er Lit Running Club stated that they see this as a ‘great addition’ for local kids and hope that it will offer a ‘huge boost’ in the development of junior athletics within the local area.

Niall Bell, the youth officer and coach for Keep Er Lit Juniors said, “This is a really exciting time for the future of athletics in Mid Ulster with the launch of the Washingbay Wetlands junior parkrun. The event has been made possible thanks to the commitment of our dedicated youth coaches at Keep er Lit and and a few local businesses who kindly donated, as well as the support of parkrun and the local Washingbay Community.”

“As a club over the last few years, we have been promoting athletics within the local community and investing heavily in the development of our younger runners through our twice weekly training sessions at Gortgonis, and we have been so proud to see some stellar performances from lots of our juniors both nationally and internationally.”

“Many of our younger runners are already taking part regularly in junior parkrun events across Northern Ireland so it’s great to be able to be able to give other children the opportunity to join in closer to home.

“We hope this will inspire other future young runners to enjoy parkrun for participation, fitness and fun.” Said Niall.

The Keep Er Lit running club is based in Coalisland but includes members from all across Mid Ulster. Aside from the new Junior Parkrun, they cater to all types of racing with members participating across a wide range of events including Track Middle Distance, Cross Country, Trail, 5k, 10k, Half-Marathon, Marathon, and Ultras.

l If your child or any young people you know are interested in signing up to the Washing Bay Wetlands Junior Parkrun, they can do so by visiting www.parkrun.org.uk/register.