“Running is so natural - it’s something we’ve been doing for thousands of years, and it’s something that is incredibly enjoyable.”
The words of Tao Geoghegan Hart, a professional cyclist with the racing team Ineos Grenadiers, may sound surprising, given his preference for two wheels over two legs.
But as an ambassador for The Daily Mile, an initiative that calls for one simple thing - 15 minutes of daily exercise where children run, walk, jog or skip one mile - any form of exercise and movement is to be encouraged.
We spoke with Geoghegan Hart to find out more about the initiative, and it’s clear he sees schools as key to setting young people up for life with good sporting habits.
“When you’re [school] age, sport can inspire you and take hold of you and transform you more than at any other age,” he explains. “Yes, we all go on journeys with sport - but when you trace those journeys back, it goes to your childhood.”
The Daily Mile: Part of a global community
One big attraction of taking part in The Daily Mile is that it is a cost-free way in which schools can encourage regular exercise. There are already 12,400 schools signed up and participating, as part of their school day, across 80 different countries.
And in order to celebrate the return to the classroom after Covid, on Friday 30 April there will be a special event called England Does the Daily Mile.
This special event encourages schools to sign up to say they will complete their Daily Mile on that day, giving children the chance to be active and with school friends after a long period of home learning.
Geoghegan Hart says he hopes England Does the Daily Mile will spur children on to try and be more active in the future.
“Something as simple as [England Does The Daily Mile] can lead to more,” he says. “We start with these simple projects, [but] so often you see something built further from the foundations.”
WATCH: Tao Geoghegan Hart explains why schools should get involved in The Daily Mile
How do schools make The Daily Mile work for them?
Timetables are squeezed, and space can be at a premium in many schools. So what are the benefits of adding another activity on to the workload of teachers?
At Cowley Hill Primary School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, deputy headteacher Louise Thomas says that the time-cost trade-off of introducing The Daily Mile has been worth it. They’ve found the integration of The Daily Mile in their daily operations has had a tremendously positive impact upon the lives of their learners - both in and out of school.
“Since we began to include the idea into our school day, our extracurricular sports clubs have seen an influx of new participants taking the school’s overall active participation up from 72 per cent to 87 per cent across the school,” she says.
Charlie Honour, Year 5 teacher and PE subject leader at St Peter’s School in nearby St Albans, says that although the activity takes place out on the field, it has classroom benefits, too.
“I find that the children are motivated to complete classwork,” says Honour. “[I think it is because they] know they will soon be outside and getting some fresh air.”
How can you get involved with The Daily Mile? These teachers share their tips:
1. Be flexible about when and how it happens
Rather than rigidly fixing a time in the school day, Thomas recommends you allow classroom teachers to take ownership of its scheduling.
“The Daily Mile is not structured nor timetabled in our school,” she says. “Our teachers recognise when the children require an opportunity to ‘drop’ their task and engage in physical activity. Doing so allows us to improve not only their personal fitness levels through physical activity but also their attention and engagement in class.”
At Honour’s school, before bubble restrictions were enforced, classes sometimes combined to make the event more social.
“We are looking forward to being able to combine classes again to complete The Daily Mile, as many of our older children love to inspire the younger year groups to push for another lap!”
2. Forgo PE kits
If the thought of tortuously slow daily PE kit changes puts you off, fear not - it isn’t necessary.
“There is no need for changing the children into PE kits, or even trainers, which supports the inclusivity of the activity,” says Thomas. “All children can participate at any given time.”
3. Don’t insist on running
For some children, the chance to run for 15 minutes will be a welcome activity, whereas for others their preference is more of a saunter. But rather than insist that everyone tries their best Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill impression, these teachers say let the children take their pick.
“All children in the class participate in The Daily Mile; whether that’s walking, jogging or sprinting,” says Honour. “Most will do a mixture, depending on their energy levels, the day or time, but all thoroughly enjoy it.”
Thomas explains that this laid-back approach encourages those less keen to move.
“The method of travel is not prescribed, instead children are positively reminded that ‘movement is movement’, which countered any of the infrequent reluctance back when we began to implement the idea,” she says. “Furthermore, there are no regulations in place such as a dictated pace or a set number of ‘miles’ [to be] completed.”
4. Celebrate your achievements
Just as grown-up runners like tracking their mileage on their fitness trackers, so, too, do the students taking part in The Daily Mile.
“[When we return] ‘miles’ per class are logged and recorded on a chart attached to each classroom’s door,” says Thomas. “Not in a competitive manner, but rather to support the development and progression of each class’ personal best.”
Honour uses a similar system at her school. “We have a visual lap tracker on display in our classroom, and they’re always eager to be the “Tracker Monitor” to add the class laps,” he says. “[Pupils] will share their step counts or laps completed to motivate themselves further and push to achieve more the next day.”
5. See how ‘far’ you can run
It’s important to keep students motivated, and one way to do that is to put the miles they’ve moved into context.
Honour uses the exercise to combine her students’ geographical and maths knowledge.
“For England Does The Daily Mile, each class will track their distance and we will plot which town or landmark in England each class could have reached,” she explains. “[We will also be] combining the whole-school distance to see where we could end up!”
Find out more
So far there are 2,130 schools registered for England Does The Daily Mile, and approximately 373,717 children due to take part.
