The Daily Mile

Meath Local Sports Partnership would like to invite your school to take part in The Daily Mile Challenge, a free and simple initiative to improve the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of the children in your school.

The Daily Mile is initiative with Athletics Ireland.

It is very simple to start in a school. Every school student goes out each day in the fresh air to run, jog or walk for 15 minutes. It is not competitive and most children average a mile, with some doing more and some doing less. This is not PE, sport or cross-country but is a fun inclusive activity that is aimed at improving the physical, social, emotional and wellbeing of every child.

• Keep it simple – resist the temptation to over-complicate it! The Daily Mile should be fun and sustainable, in order to improve the children’s health and wellbeing.
• Carry out a risk assessment – to ensure that The Daily Mile is a safe activity for all children. When marking out your mile (1600m) create numerous smaller laps to keep the course fun and engaging. This allows the children to enjoy running as far as they can in the 15 minutes.
• Children should know that it’s not a competition- many mix running and walking, particularly at the start.
• It’s fully inclusive – make sure all the children are out in the fresh air with their friends
• Do it daily – otherwise children find it hard, and won’t enjoy all the benefits.
• Treat the weather as a benefit not barrier- jackets on in the rain, ditch the sweatshirt if it’s warm.
• No need to warm up and warm down or change clothes.(possible exception for footwear- runners more conducive for this activity then change back to shoes for class)
• Do you’re Daily Mile when it suits you – fit it in around your teaching day.

If you are interested in starting the Daily Mile in your school or one of the classes in your school initially, please email Lisa at lodowd@meathcoco.ie