The SUBWAY® brand is pleased to announce that the SUBWAY Helping Hearts™ Family 5K series is coming back to Wales. Back bigger and better for 2015, in the brand new location of Newport, the series will see 12 events take place up and down the country from May to September; so there’s really no excuse not to grab your trainers and get involved!
In what is an exciting new twist for this year, the 5K event will see families challenged to take on the ‘field of fresh’ for the final 500m! Inspired by the SUBWAY® menu the giant inflatable course has been designed to appeal to kids (and big kids) as they make their way to the finish line. For the less adventurous there’s still the option of following the traditional route; because ultimately however you make it, every 5K counts!
Taking place at Tredegar Park Recreation Ground, on Sunday June 21st, the event will once again be run in conjunction with national heart charity Heart Research UK. Open to all ages and abilities, the family 5K event fittingly takes place in the home county of the SUBWAY® brand’s UK Headquarters, and is part of the SUBWAY® brand’s efforts to inspire families to live healthier and more active lifestyles
As well as having fun as you make your way around the course, everyone who takes part will be helping to raise money for Heart Research UK. Every penny of sponsorship money raised across the 12 events will go directly back into the local community to help fund the Heart Research UK and SUBWAY® Healthy Heart grant scheme.
The scheme provides funding of up to £10,000, to new and innovative projects that actively promote Heart Health in the local area. One of the groups that has received such funding is Port Talbot Town FC, receiving two Healthy Heart grants in recent years. The first was for its ‘Lion Heart’ initiative which brought healthy heart messages to primary school pupils. Targeting children aged 8-11, the scheme reached 10 primary schools in the Neath, Port Talbot area. Following the success of the project, Port Talbot Community Sport received a second grant for its ‘Heart in Hand’ initiative. Building on the work of the ‘Lion Heart’ project, the scheme extended the work to a further 10 local youth clubs, with each one receiving four weeks of heart healthy sessions.
Commenting on the initiatives the club’s Community Manager, Lee John, said: “At Port Talbot Town we have been lucky enough to have received two successful Subway Heart Research UK healthy heart grants totalling £18,000. These grants have allowed us to educate primary schoolchildren in the Neath/Port Talbot area about heart health and inspire them to lead healthier lifestyles. Taking part in the Subway Helping Hearts™ 5K events not only helps families to exercise and have fun together but it raises important funding so that other communities can benefit from healthy heart grants like ours.”
Children under 12 years old can enter for FREE and it’s just £6.99 per person for the rest of the family when you register online. With lots of free, fun activities on the day, from face-painting to a bouncy castle, it’s the perfect day out that the whole family can enjoy. Everyone who takes part will receive:
- A FREE T-Shirt
- A FREE SUBWAY® lunch
- A FREE Goody Bag
Roger Cusa, Head of Marketing for the SUBWAY® brand in the UK and Ireland said about the series return “I am delighted that the SUBWAY Helping Hearts™ Family 5K series is back, bigger and better than ever for 2015. As a brand we remain committed to encouraging families to get active together and the family 5K events provide the perfect opportunity for them to do so. I hope the experiences of everyone who took part in the events last year will encourage even more people to sign up this year and show their support for heart healthy causes in their local area.”
Barbara Harpham, National Director of HRUK commented “The charity partnership between HRUK and the SUBWAY® brand has been vital in helping us to raise half a million pounds to carry out heart health schemes in local communities. To date they have involved around 27,000 people of all ages, and with heart disease still the biggest killer in the UK it is more important than ever to make thousands more aware of the importance of heart health. The SUBWAY® brand has shown visionary dedication in promoting healthier lifestyle choices, of which the SUBWAY Helping Hearts™ Family 5K series is the perfect example.”
Go to 5ksubway.com for race information and to register.
Top 5 Tips – How to look after your heart
1) Tackling stress – ‘Calon Hapus’ Healthy Heart Grant with Scope Wales
2) Looking after your heart is easy and is definitely worth it. It’s all about building in some heart-healthy lifestyle habits to reduce your risk of heart disease.
3) Tackling the smoking, keeping that blood pressure healthy, taking more exercise to get fitter and eating your 5-a-day everyday will significantly reduce your risk of having a heart attack.
4) Remember too that small changes to your lifestyle can make a big difference. Simple steps like swapping the type of fats you use when preparing food, adding frozen veg to dishes, walking round the block for 15 minutes everyday and always taking the stairs rather than the lift or escalator will keep you more firmly on the road to heart health.
5) Think about what areas of your lifestyle need attention and look into what changes you could make.
Your Heart is Amazing – Fact!
1) Your heart beats over 100,000 times every day, pumping blood around your body so your cells get the oxygen and nutrients they need. It’s specially designed to do this job and respond to your body’s needs, like when you walk up the stairs or run for the bus
2) In a day, your heart pumps around 7,200 litres of blood, enough to fill a small paddling pool
3) Your heart muscle makes your blood travel 19,000 km everyday – the same distance as flying from London to Hong Kong and back
4) By the age of 70, your heart will have beaten over two and a half billion times (2,500,000,000 – that’s a lot of zeros)
5) In a lifetime, your heart expends the same energy it would take to lift a battleship out of the water – not bad for a muscle about the size of your fist
6) On average, an adult heart beats around 70 times a minute. The hummingbird holds the record for the fastest heart beat: 1,200 beats a minute as it flaps its wings
