450 pupils at Longhill secondary school enjoyed an assembly with a difference on 9th January as the Brighton Marathon, with two Olympians on its staff, held a seminar on the Mini Mile and the Olympic Games.
Though the marathon, which takes place April 15th, is closed to children under the age of 18, there is also a mile race that takes place over the home stretch of the marathon course and is open to primary and secondary school pupils.
“As with the Brighton Marathon itself, the Grand Hotel Mini Mile Races are growing rapidly each year,” said Brighton Marathon race director, Tim Hutchings.
“They offer every youngster between the ages of 7 and 17 a wonderful opportunity to do something special in Olympic year. We’re expecting to go well over 1,500 entries by race day and are already on the way to beating last year’s number of over 1,200 entrants.
“Running these one-mile races on Brighton Marathon day, is a great way for anyone between 7-17 to experience that big race feeling, of having thousands of spectators cheer them on. By entering and running, youngsters will get just a taste of the Olympic Games that they’ll no doubt be watching in July.”
The Grand Hotel Mini Mile has become one of the success stories of the Brighton Marathon and though today was in theory launch day, 500 eager youngsters have already signed up to scamper from the Peace statue to Madeira Drive.
Both race director, Hutchings (4th 5000 Los Angeles 1984) and elite coordinator, Richard Nerurkar (5th marathon Atlanta1996) gave a taste of what it means to be at an Olympics, stressing the importance of taking part.
Andrew Mosley, Grand Hotel general manager who ran the marathon last year, explained that his company considers it important to invest in youth.
The Grand Hotel, which sponsors the Mini Mile, is in a prime location, looking out over the last mile of the race.
Tom Naylor, Longhill old boy and operations director at the Brighton Marathon, showed how he progressed from schoolboy to being in charge of one of the UK’s leading marathons.
To cap the morning, Nerurkar and Phoenix coach, Paul Collicutt, took a select group of 40 pupils complete with 2012 Mini Mile T-shirts for a training session. Collicutt coached teenage talent Charlie Grice to wins at the first two Mini Miles.
The Grand Hotel Mini Mile Races are age-related races staged along the seafront on the morning of The Brighton Marathon, covering a one mile distance over the last part of the marathon course.
The races, which start at 8.30, are open to 7 – 17 year olds giving youngsters a fantastic opportunity to capture the atmosphere of a mass participation race.
Every entrant receives a T-shirt and every finisher receives a medal and a kit bag containing goodies. To enter go to: http://brightonmarathon.co.uk/minimile/index.php
The closing date for entries is 23 March 2012.
The Grand Hotel Mini Mile is supported by Healthy City and the NSPCC.
Previous Press Release regarding the Grand Hotel Mini Mile Races 2012: http://www.childfriendlybrighton.co.uk/the-grand-hotel-mini-mile-races-2012-brighton-marathon