European Athletics is helping Europe to get fit by promoting participation in thousands of activities linked to the second edition of the European Week of Sport, which are scheduled to take place in 31 countries next month.
To publicise the initiative, it is offering two VIP passes to the Belgrade 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships for a lucky winner of the #BeActive Photo-Video Challenge currently being run by the European Commission, which is leading the Week of Sport.
The passes are at the top of the list of valuable prizes offered by European sport organisations partnering the Commission on the initiative. They include all session stadium tickets, travel to and from Belgrade plus accommodation for the duration of the championships, which take place from 3 to 5 March.
European Athletics is also playing its part by working with its Member Federations and road race organisers to ensure that athletics events across the continent promote the
Week of Sport’s activities using the #BeActive hashtag and other messaging in their social media communications.
European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen said: “European Athletics has committed to supporting the European Commission’s initiative by ensuring that there is at least one athletics event linked to the Week of Sport in each participating country.
“As health and fitness through physical activity are central to our “Your Sport for Life” strategy, we think it is important that our Member Federations, athletics clubs and mass participation races are highly visible in this initiative,” he added.
For the first edition of the Week of Sport in 2015, European Athletics stepped up to coordinate the participation of 127 races in 34 countries, which involved more than a quarter of a million participants.
The Week of Sport was established after research showed that levels of sport participation and physical activity in the EU are stagnating or in some Member states they are actually falling.
With a focus on local and grassroots activities, the aim is to inspire Europeans to #BeActive on a regular basis and create opportunities to exercise more in peoples’ everyday lives. The activities are for everyone, regardless of age, background or fitness level.
The Commission estimates that more than five million people took part in 7,000 activities across a wide range of sports that were related to the 2015 Week of Sport.
European Athletics’ promotional role for the Week of Sport will be in parallel to work to developing its “Running for All” programme, which positions it and its Member Federation as important players in Europe’s running movement. The cornerstone of the programme is a set of safety and quality standards for public road races developed with the help of leading race organisers and other experts.
Take part in the Photo-Video Challenge for a chance to win some of the great prizes on offer. Once you’ve signed up, you need to dust off your trainers and capture photos or videos of you or your friends getting fit to share on your social channels using #BeActive. You can also invite your friends to enter.
The Photo-Video Challenge period closes on 18 September when the European Commission will pick an overall winner.
For more information visit: http://ec.europa.eu/sport/week/