The first Fun Run was just for children and was the concept of Laura Shurvinton, Gail Bethell and Lucy Etherington-Smith. Over 200 local children took part in the 2006 event, aged between 2 ½ and 13 years old. There were four separate Fun Runs with distances ranging from 400 metres to 1600 metres (a whole mile!) for the older children. Each child taking part wore a runner’s number and was awarded a medal and a much deserved bottle of water and biscuit on completing, which all added to the sense of occasion.
The Hartley Wintney Fun Run Committee couldn’t believe their luck when, at the beginning of the weekend, the rain clouds finally vanished and the sun shone for the first ever Hartley Wintney Fun Run. With the 2012 Olympics only six years off, perhaps Hartley Wintney could prove to be Great Britain’s secret weapon on the athletics track?
Over 200 local children took part in the event, aged between 2 ˝ and 13 years old. There were four separate Fun Runs with distances ranging from 400 metres to 1600 metres (a whole mile!) for the older children. Each child taking part wore a runner’s number and was awarded a medal on completing their Fun Run and handed a much deserved bottle of water and biscuit, which all added to the sense of occasion.
The Scouts had been kind enough to let us have use of the Scout Hut the day before to store everything that was needed for the Fun Run. It was a sunny autumn afternoon and the Committee started to feel the buzz of our hard work over the previous months coming together. Alarms were set for 6.30am for the following morning.
Sunday arrived and the committee with a lot of helpers met at 7am – a glorious morning had begun. Course Director and Advisor Andy Smerdon and Chris Roberts planned an excellent route for the children. With hammers and stakes at the ready the course started to materialise.
Supersportz arrived and the tennis court suddenly transformed into their Activity Zone with various sporting challenges including target football, crazy golf and hockey dribbling.
Around 8.30am more volunteers started to arrive and the morning was certainly buzzing. The crew were delighted when bacon and sausage rolls appeared - they went down a treat! Gazebos and PA system were erected, tables appeared and the refreshment stall was set-up. The Playing Field was completely transformed into the Hartley Wintney Fun Run - perfectly timed for the 10am start.
The PA went live, our event comperes, Rob and Feargal gave polished performances and must surely be clearing their own diaries for 2012… The children were thrilled to hear their names mentioned over the PA system as they ran towards the finish line. We have been told that the comperes could be heard as far away as Hazeley Heath.
After all the planning and preparation, the Committee were delighted to see so many children participate on the day. “The event really came to life for me during the warm up.” said Gail. “The children showed such excitement, keenness and passion even before the race. So that when the air-horn sounded the kids ran with smiles and laughter and our time and effort was vindicated from the very first step of the very first race. I have been on a high ever since.”
The marshals cheered and clapped every child as they ran passed. On my third Fun Run as a ‘runner marshal’ we had even got into a routine of doing high fives … everyone was having a great time!
At midday the event came to a close. A great many thanks goes to EVERYBODY who helped on the day. The morning had been a total success, the children went home very happy, very excited and ready to train for next year’s event.