Run for Your Life - Research Paper Example

The Run for your Life, half Marathon The “Run for your life” half marathon has been introduced as a fight against obesity. Obesity is becoming a menace in today’s society. Obesity does not just have the physical implications such as heart disease and diabetes, it also causes a lot of mental turmoil to people who can do nothing but suffer in silence, mainly because they don’t know what to do. It has come to notice that more and more people today are overweight and obese and the numbers are just increasing. A person is considered ‘obese’ when he/she is carrying too much body fat in proportion to their height and sex. The value to measure this is if they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. The main reason for this sudden increase in obesity when compare to previous times is that life today involves a lot less physical activity than it did before. In our strife to save time, we travel by cars or buses instead of walking, we use escalators and elevators instead of taking the stairs and we have dog walkers to walk our dogs. Also, our jobs involve sitting in the offices, in front of a computer screen for most of the time. With this lack of physical activity and the rampant consumption of take out/junk food, and the following accumulation of excess calories, obesity was evident. (nhs.uk) Event Objectives Keeping in mind the rapid increase in obesity, The National Obesity Forum, based in Nottingham, has designed this marathon, to educate and encourage the people of England about their unhealthy eating habits and the resulting problems that obesity causes, both physical and mental. Being a part of this marathon also involves a rigorous training that begins three months prior to the event. By encouraging people to run for their lives, the National Obesity Forum aims at trying to get the obesity count under check and promoting a healthier lifestyle for the people of England. The whole point of the three month training is not just to train them for this one marathon, but to encourage them and get them used to an exercise regimen and a diet in the hope that they will like being fit and continue to use the guidance they have been given, to get in shape. This marathon was designed with two main objectives: 1. To promote a healthier lifestyle for all, and bring the rampant obesity under check. 2. To educate all about the problems caused by obesity such as heart problems, diabetes, not to mention the mental and social ramifications that obese people have to go through in society, therefore, encouraging people to run for their lives. The event is also being conducted to provide mileage to the work being done by the medical professionals at the National Obesity Forum and to bring to notice to the government that obesity is spreading out of control and if not checked soon, could lead to a very unhealthy nation. (nationalobesityforum.org.uk) Research “According to research, about 46% of men in England and 32% of women are overweight with a body mass index of 25-30 kg/m2, and an additional 17% of men and 21% of women are obese with a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2. Breaking this down into age brackets, about 28% of men and 27% of women aged 16-24 are overweight or obese but 76% of men and 68% of women aged 55-64 are overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity are only increasing with time. The percentage of adults who are obese has roughly doubled since mid-1980.” (annecollins.com) Venue The venue chosen for this marathon is the Wollaton Park, which is five hundred acres of spectacular gardens and parkland that also houses Wollaton Hall, a spectacular Elizabethan mansion in the heart of Nottingham. (nottinghamcity.gov.uk) External Factors There are various uncontrollable factors that could have an impact on the success of the marathon. Unpredictable weather conditions, political instability or unrest, demise of a powerful/influential person, etc. Other factors that could also affect the success of the run would be non cooperation by governmental authorities at the last minute or a media scam created at the last minute that could influence the public and thus stop them from participating. Publicity This event is being conducted for a good purpose, to help check the menace that is obesity and its various resulting health issues. By encouraging people to run for their lives, and including a three month training period, we are ensuring that people will get used to training and want to on their own continue some sort of exercise regimen. To encourage this event, we can use the publicity media base of the National Obesity Forum. We will use various ways to promote this event, both on an ATL and BTL level. Some of the ways in which we will reach out to the crowds are: We will launch a series of advertisements on local newspapers and television and radio channels. We will use the medium of posters, flyers and bill boards across the nation to encourage and educate people about obesity and how they can do their bit to help keep it in check. Another option we will exploit will be to talk to people one on one, for example in malls and universities, we will encourage them to check their BMI and spread the word about the harmful effects of obesity and about the run for your life half marathon. We will also set up kiosks outside gyms, parks and health clubs to encourage those already on the path to fitness to join hands with us and run the marathon. We will tie up with a shoe brand of the likes of Nike or Reebok to be our running partner and they can also launch campaigns in their own capacity to promote the run. We will launch a teaser campaign as well that will involve runners just randomly running on traffic filled roads with the phrase “run for your life” printed on their t-shirts. This will help create a buzz about the run and will gather an interest. Budget The budget for this event will be around £25000. This will include the cost for t-shirts for runners, memorabilia for those who complete the race, ambulance and first aid, printing of collaterals and signs, provision of water and snacks to the participants and other expenses. To cover the media expenses, sponsors will be approached. Risk Assessment There are various factors that could be considered in the risk assessment for the event. Some of them are: Checking the path of the run for any kind of uneven ground that may cause the participants to get hurt and altering the course to make it simpler for them. ‘ Ensuring that there is first aid available at regular intervals for participants. Having a lot of signs pointing in the direction of the course to be taken so that people do not stray and get lost. Having guides at regular intervals in case people require medical or any other attention. Ensuring that there is plenty of water and glucose available at regular intervals, along with glucose. Event Evaluation The “Run for your life” half marathon has been designed for the purpose of encouraging people to get back on the track to a healthy lifestyle. Everyone has become lax when it comes to the kind of food they’re eating and this has resulted in a lot of overweight and obesity issues that are not just physical but mental as well. The event can be called successful if, There is a great turnout of people on the day of the run, to run for their health and their lives. There are a large number of enrollments for the pre run training. The government realizes the importance of the cause that we are supporting with this initiative and takes measures to help out. Fulfilling of the objectives of the run will be a measure of the success of the run. Also, a higher awareness quotient for the National Obesity Forum will help all parties concerned, the government, the institution and the people of the nation. The Run for your Life half marathon is not just a run supporting a random cause. It is a health issue that is prevalent in England and is spreading rapidly. The link between the event and the cause is but obvious, a search for a healthier lifestyle to prevent any more counts of obesity and to keep in check the problems that come with it. It will be called successful when more people decide to join the walk to a healthier lifestyle and thus help curb this menace. References nhs.uk, Obesity, viewed on May 12, 2011, from http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Obesity/Pages/Introduction.aspx nationalobesityforum.org.uk, About the NOF, viewed on May 12, 2011, from, http://www.nationalobesityforum.org.uk/about-us.html annecollins.com, UK Obesity Statistics, viewed on May 12, 2011, from, http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/uk-obesity-statistics.htm nottinghamcity.gov.uk, Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, viewed on May 12, 2011, from, http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1037 Read More