United Nations launches kids running programs across Canada

Two-hundred school age children will slept well last night after a full day of sports, sunshine and fresh air. In celebration of the Pan American and Para-Pan American Games held in Toronto this summer, the United Nations Association of Canada launched a Sport-Unites program in seven cities across Canada.

This week, one-day events will be held across the country to connect youth to the international world of sport and bring children from all different backgrounds together.

On Tuesday, multiple communities in the Halifax area participated in a sample of the sports featured at the games in Toronto. The children played soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, swimming and running. The event was entirely free of charge and local community leaders volunteered to organize the sports for the kids.

As a local race director and runner, I was invited to be the running ambassador for the Halifax event and organized relay races. Children created their own race-bibs including their name, favorite number and were encouraged to decorate their bib with their country’s flag or symbol that represented their personality or culture. For the track component, children were in relay races and their team names represented different countries. Before each heat and during the relay, children eagerly shouted out their country names. Emphasis was placed on the importance of both cultural and physical diversity of runners.

To demonstrate that running is an economical sport, relay batons were made of bristol board. The children were eager to take relay batons home as a keepsake. Hopefully, this positive experience will encourage them to organize relay races with friends in their neighbourhoods. The kids are encouraged to join the free run clubs at school and consider signing up for the Youth Running Series (a not-for-profit running series for children in Nova Scotia).