Mik Scarlet, a broadcaster and parallel London ambassador was thoroughly moved to see the disabled people all excited at the fact that they were going to participate in such an event for the first time ever and more moving was their exceeding joy as they crossed the finishing line. His fear or hate or physical activities went through the window after this event. He was also challenged to be an active participant at the event this year.
The organizers for the event that will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Park in London was going to be the world’s first fully inclusive fun race event are not taking ‘no’ for an answer!
A member of the Parallel London team is encouraging participants that whatever it is they need, it shall be availed to them, it could be a wheelchair, or someone or even three people to walk with you, guide dogs provided they are taking part in the fun run.
A sports event and festival that includes all people with abilities as well as disabilities has a strong conviction that everybody should come together and have a fun-physical activity. It is all about creating a race where everyone is participating, where inclusion is celebrated and make it a friends and family event regardless of any physical challenges one might have.
The organizers are emphasizing that the objective of the race is not winning, rather it’s participating. The races do not have a set time for completion as the race is all about having a good time with everyone else. There are several options for the races where once can choose from, ranging from 100m, 1k,5k and 10k.
There are those who will not be able to get to the finishing line, but is does not make them less of achievers. The race is all about just signing up and being there and more so for those people who have challenges with mobility; the biggest step they can make is showing up.
The event has a captivating section which is a 1km multi-sensory activity. This is a track that has music, bubbles, parachutes, ribbons, light tunnels all of which are meant to enable the participants who need sensory support for memory as well as those in for it for the fun.
The first activity at the event is the 10km race which will start at 10.00BST.
The growth of the event from last year’s success has made the organizers anticipate having 4,000 participants, which is a 50{4fdb5acd4891bace33ada2338e55dfcfb4968d3d0c3ddd4319d06b6e16894e20} increment. The runners expected in this year’s event are those that got inspired by watching parallel for the previous year where abilities such as MS were represented. An example is Sally Derby who got motivated for seeing someone like her participating.
All participants receive a good bag that has a time-taken indicator so that they can plan to improve on their performance for the next race.
There are those that come to the event but do not want to take part in the actual races. They can be part of a full day free festival which has activities such as skateboarding, table tennis, game-coding and an autism friendly barber. There are also food stalls available. Which has food stalls games, entertainment as well as workshops.
According to English Federation of Disability Sport, about 64{4fdb5acd4891bace33ada2338e55dfcfb4968d3d0c3ddd4319d06b6e16894e20} of disabled people are happy to be participating in sports that have the abled as well as disabled people.
