United’s strength and conditioning coach Dave Waldie was at the Youth Zone on Thursday evening to give some of the youngsters who will be signing up for the DSD Carlisle Half Fun Run a few hints and tips about their preparation for the event.
The DSD Carlisle Half – which sets off from Brunton Park on Sunday 15 March – includes a half marathon, a 10k and a family fun run, and caters for runners of all ages and abilities.
Helping out at the Youth Zone with the Carlisle United fitness session was Carlisle Half organiser Ian Milburn.
“I’d like to say thank you to Dave for coming along to put on a warm-up and fitness session for the Youth Zone’s afternoon group,” he said. “Kingmoor Park are one of the event sponsors and they have very close links with the Youth Zone, so it’s fantastic that we’ve been able to do this.
“The children were smiling from the moment Dave started the exercises, and you could tell that they got a lot from it and had a huge amount of fun. Some of the children will be taking part in the fun run, so this was of great benefit to them.”
After the group photo had been taken Dave set the youngsters off on a warm-up programme, before putting them through a series of exercises designed to work their muscles, hearts and lungs.
“The kids were brilliant,” Dave told us. “I actually put the responsibility of coming up with the exercises onto them. In pairs they had to decide on an exercise, and then demonstrate it so that everybody knew what it was they had to do.
“From there we did it as a circuit training session, and it was fantastic to see the effort they all put in. We had everything from fast-feet sprints, to tennis, to star jumps, and it was very, very enjoyable.
“Thanks to the Youth Zone for inviting me along and good luck to those taking part in the Carlisle Half in March.”
Speaking more about the Carlisle Half event, Ian Milburn said: “It’s the third time we’ve done it and it’s getting more and more popular every year.
“There’s still time to register, whether people want to do the 13 miles, the 10 kilometres or just have a bit of fun as a family or group.
“We’re supporting some really good local community causes, as we’ve seen here with the Youth Zone, and we’ve chosen the Eden Valley Hospice as our official charity partner again.
“When we first started this event in 2018 it was with Tony Hopper and MND very much at the forefront of our minds, but we also worked closely with Jigsaw and the Hospice. We want to continue that in recognition of the work they do.”
“The whole thinking behind this session with Dave was that Kingmoor Park give entries to the fun run to the Youth Zone, and we’re encouraging as many children as possible to take part,” he added.
“Thanks again to Dave Waldie because he really got the kids working hard and thinking about their fitness and health, but they also had a fantastic time.
"It’s three weeks to go until the day of the event now and we’re all looking forward to it, so please do get yourselves registered so that you can part of something that we think is going to continue to grow and grow.”
To book your place go to the official www.carlislehalf.co.uk website for more information.