World Athletics adopts Daily Mile
Stirling schoolteacher’s idea spreading
International impact of a wellbeing programme which originated in a Stirling primary school is spreading.
The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, has been announced as the official children’s education and fitness program of the World Athletic Championships Oregon22.
The partnership aims to increase awareness of The Daily Mile in schools - a transformative, free initiative where children run, jog, wheel or walk for fifteen minutes every day, in which time, most people will average a mile or more.
And the latest link up will encourage elementary schools in Oregon in the USA and the rest of the world to take part.
Since The Daily Mile was started by former St Ninians Primary School headteacher Elaine Wyllie a decade ago, the initiative has improved the health and wellbeing of millions of children.
Children and their teachers engage in the mile together, getting healthier while building relationships that result in better classroom management and academic performance.
Today more than three million children across 14,000 schools globally are now running a mile a day.
On Friday, April 8, kids in Portland ran The Daily Mile for the first time as part of the World Wide Youth Relay, the youth engagement program created by the local organising committee of Oregon22 to celebrate the 100day countdown to the start of the World Athletics Championships, which are coming to the United States for the first time in July.
Daily Mile founder Elaine Wyllie said: “Working with the World Athletics Championships Oregon, we hope to encourage children in Oregon, the rest of the US and across the world to take part in The Daily Mile - a simple, free and effective way to improve wellbeing.”