Slovenian club launches family running events for all generations

Slovenian athletics club ACK (Athletic Club Kranj) has become the latest partner of Athletics for a Better World, the IAAF’s social responsibility programme, after launching their “all generations run 4 fun” project.

The intention of the project is to socialise and connect children with their parents and grandparents. Athletics represents an ideal opportunity for people of all generation to gather and enjoy their free time, accompanied by family or friends.

For the first part of the project, ACK organised a cross-country running event for all generations, held in the picturesque setting of Brdo Park, an estate and mansion near Kranj, north of the capital Ljubljana. Held earlier in November, it was first time in history the venue has hosted a running event.

Accompanied by family members or friends, participants ran the 600m and 2000m courses. The ages of the runners ranged from one to 73 years old. Although the run wasn’t intended to be a competitive one, many children couldn’t resist the urge and ended up running flat-out.

ACK intends to hold another running event next autumn, and once again all generations will be involved.

Children undergo check-ups

Five days after the race, ACK arranged physiological check-ups for a large group of children.

An important element when undertaking regular exercise, the check-ups are designed to prevent any possible malfunctions, diseases and injuries.

Organised by the School of Athletics Rozle Prezelj, the programme corrects deficiencies in the development of an individual child, but only partially; the involvement of parents in the program is crucial.

Parents and children will be shown the correct technique of therapeutic exercises and the importance of their regular implementation. In case of more complex problems, the parents and their children will be directed to a specialist physician.

With the help of Athletics for a Better World, Dr Katarina Tonin added heart check-ups to the musculoskeletal check-ups. Hospital Golnik enabled the ECG heart examinations that were conducted by Dr Uros Mazić.

IAAF