Run Kent smashes annual runner target for a 4th Year in a row!

Run Kent, delivered by Kent Sport, the County Sports Partnership, is part of the National Run England programme and it aims to get more people running, and running more often through a network of beginner friendly running groups led by qualified Run Leaders. 

Launched in 2012, the local programme supports over 100 qualified Run Leaders across 80 Running Groups/Clubs in Kent.

Every year the local programme is set a 'new runner' target to monitor the growth in recreational running in Kent.  In order to achieve these targets, the Run Leaders register any new runners as and when they join their sessions.

The local programme is led by Run Kent Activator, Lucy Tomlinson (pictured):  "I'm really pleased to announce that Run Kent has exceeded its annual runner target for a 4th year in a row!  Since April 2015, over 1,900 runners have registered with local Groups in Kent, beating this year's target of 1780 runners. And we’ve done all this well before the annual deadline of 31st March!  This brings Kent’s rolling total to 6,388 runners since 2012.

A HUGE THANKS must go to all the qualified Leaders and Coaches who keep making this happen.  Without their dedication and support, the local programme would not be smashing targets year on year.  Their love of running and their ability to encourage so many people to give running a go, is making a real difference to Kent’s communities".

Of course, it's not just in the local running groups where we've seen so many people take up running.  Across Kent, there are now 15 parkruns which is considerably more than the 1 parkrun event (in Whitstable) which we had at the start of 2012. These free events welcome all ages and abilities and are ideal for anyone new to running.  Organised by Volunteers, these 5k timed events regularly see over 2,000 people from across Kent taking part on a Saturday morning. 

Running in Kent continues to boom and thanks to initiatives like Run Kent and parkrun, it looks set to carry on growing for many years to come.

Well Done to all the Run Leaders, Coaches and parkrun volunteers for helping to Get Kent Running!

• For more information about the Run Kent programme, please visit: www.kentsport.org/running or contact Lucy, the Run Kent Activator at lucy.tomlinson@kent.gov.uk www.facebook.com/RunKentRun @GetKentRunning
• To find your local Running Group, please visit www.runengland.org/groups
• To find your nearest parkrun in Kent, please visit: www.parkrun.org.uk