What is RaceRunning?

RaceRunning is a new sport for children, young people and adults who cannot run independently and rely on support aids for mobility and balance. The RaceRunner is a three-wheeled frame which supports the athlete’s body, enabling the athlete to propel the frame with their feet. RaceRunning can be done just for fun and fitness, but it is also a competitive sport, and there are exciting plans afoot for it to be included in the Paralympic Games in 2024.

What do we want to do and why?

Access Sport’s Ignite Programme supports Waltham Forest Wolves Athletics Club, an inclusive athletics club based in Waltham Forest that run sessions every Sunday 9:45am – 11:15am. Ellie Barton and Charlotte Jarman, a paediatric physiotherapist and physiotherapist assistant based in Leytonstone who specialise in working with children with complex needs, contacted Access Sport to organise a RaceRunning taster session alongside WF Wolves AC.

“It’s taken nearly 17 years but we have finally seen our son run without falling over, and may we add 400 meters! It was one of the proudest, most memorable times of our lives”

The RaceRunning taster day was a huge success, with ten young disabled people between the ages of 4 and 17 running around the athletics track alongside their siblings. Some of those young people travelled from as far as Suffolk to attend! Without a doubt there is a demand for a regular RaceRunning club and Access Sport is committed to supporting Ellie and Charlotte with their vision to buy three to five RaceRunners and set up a weekly RaceRunning club for children and young people with disabilities. A regular RaceRunning club would give young people:

• Cardiovascular exercise – this can be very difficult to access for children with complex disabilities such as cerebral palsy

• Social interaction with other children and young people with additional needs

• Fresh air – the club is outside at a brand new leisure centre

• Fun!

“I definitely want to come back again. I enjoyed it and it was nice to see other children who use wheelchairs like me”