Over 20 clubs at Fun Run and Sports Festival ready to get residents active

The clubs represent a wide range of activities and welcome new members. Many are offering free taster sessions at the event. Football, running, tennis, martial arts, dance, gymnastics, cycling, hockey and yoga are just a few of the sports on offer. The stalls are available throughout the day while the fun runs take place across the park.

“The Fun Run and Sports Festival is all about making it easy for people to get more active and to find a sport or activity they enjoy,” says Emma Parnell, Sports and Leisure Development Officer at Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. “We have so many excellent clubs and classes across Banstead, Horley, Redhill and Reigate as well as our own leisure centres so if you’d like to improve your activity levels or get back into sport, there’s loads to choose from. It promises to be a great day out: as well as seven funs runs, there are food stalls, a climbing wall, a bouncy castle, face painting and arena performances. This year we’ve also got activity passports – as you go round the stalls, get your passport stamped to win prizes.”

Sign up for the fun run

Ian Burks, CEO at YMCA East Surrey, says: “There is still time to sign up for the fun run on our website. We love to see the enormous variety of people who turn up and join in. There will be four and five-year olds taking part in the one mile run for the very first time, who beam with pride when they are handed a medal at the finish line. Many people who enter are new to running and are giving a fun run a try to see how they get on, plus runners who face all kinds of challenges, both physical and mental. All sponsorship money raised from the fun run is going directly to YMCA’s playschemes for children with disabilities. Anyone who raises over £20 will be entered in to our prize draw to win an iPad courtesy of local company, Aptus Technology, so come along, take part and raise money if you can.”

Passports and prizes

The fun runs begin at 10.30am with the five mile adults’ run, followed by the one mile adults’ route and continue into the afternoon with the junior runs. Prizes will be given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd male and female, as well as for the best fancy dress, in each race. Spectators and runners alike are invited to take a look around the stalls and try out activities such as the climbing wall or free taster sessions.

The arena programme begins at 11am with a performance from the cast of Star for a Night followed by displays from dance groups, gymnastics clubs and trampolinists and demonstrations from martial arts clubs.