Literally a Fantastic Virtual Park Run

Members of the Shiplake College community collectively ran, walked or cycled over 960 kilometres on Saturday, for the school's first ever 'Virtual Park Run'.

Current and former pupils, parents, staff and governors, joined the College's Club on the social-fitness network Strava and uploaded their activity during the course of the day. The athletes could run or cycle at any time during the day and over any distance.

Head of PE, Mr Tom Walter, said "Shiplake has a strong tradition of community and sport and so we thought we would combine these together. The aim of our first virtual park run was simply to get as many people as possible to take part. With many of us confined to our homes it has become incredibly important to stay active. Regular exercise has been proven to boost both academic performance and mental wellbeing. Using the Strava app, participants can compare activity with their friends, peers and colleagues, and for the competitive ones there is also a leaderboard."

The first to upload their run was Alex Duncan, a former staff member who is now at a school in Malaysia and was therefore a number of hours ahead! Soon after the first pupil to take part was Max Dag in Year 9, completing 5km in under 35 minutes.

By the end of the day, 83 athletes had taken part, running 434km in a total of 60 hours 5 mins, and cycling 527.26km over 23 hours 42 minutes. A total distance of 961.29km was covered, with Year 13 Eleanor Blois-Brooke running the furthest distance of an incredible 25.11km. The fastest 5km was run by former pupil Oliver Walker and the fastest 10km by Mr Walter himself in under 46 minutes. Whilst a number of staff and young children enjoyed walks, the youngest pupil to log their own run was Elliot Jones in Year 7. Year 13 pupil Jacob Kirby recorded the longest cycle of an impressive 110km.

Mr Walter adds: "I am delighted that so many members of the College community got involved, and from all over the country and indeed the world! Well done to all those who took part; I know of a number of participants who had not been running for a number of months so I am particularly pleased that the Shiplake Virtual Park Run gave them the motivation to do so. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve next Saturday!"

Click here to join the Shiplake College Club on Strava and join in next week!