UK Sport and Save the Children use Olympic legacy to address issues around hunger

Over 20,000 children ran in World Marathon Challenge events taking place in 45 different countries, including Mozambique and the UK, to raise awareness of global hunger. The opportunity to take part in the international event - now the biggest children’s running event in the world – builds on the training school teachers in Mozambique received, through the London 2012 international sports legacy programme, International Inspiration.

The foundations for athletics were laid by the Kids Athletics programme, which was delivered by the International Associations Athletics Federations (IAAF) as part of International Inspiration, which was implemented in partnership with UK Sport, UNICEF and the British Council.

With every team of 30 children racing a full marathon (42.195km) as a relay in 200m stages, children around the world ran with a common goal – to use sport as a platform to raise awareness of the problem which affects the world’s poorest populations.

This partnership between UK Sport and Save the Children builds not only on the Olympic legacy to increase the use of sport to achieve development objectives, but also to strengthen the involvement of government organisations in this process. The Ministry of Education in Mozambique has chaired the workforce driving this pilot project in collaboration with national organisations, ranging from community grassroots NGOs to schools.

Luisa, 12, was introduced to athletics through PE lessons at her school and thanks to the Kids Athletics programme, running is her favourite sport.

She said: “I love running so much. It makes me feel so good and I can do it anywhere – at school, in my free time, anywhere. Our teachers taught us how to run and jump but my favourite thing is running. In our PE lessons and preparing for the World Marathon Challenge, we have learned how to take off, about the countdown and the signal to start. And very importantly we learned how to give and take the baton, using different hands.”

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team.]

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