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Tata Steel’s Kids of Steel Program Reaches Midpoint
06/10/2011 - The Tata Kids of Steel season has reached the halfway mark with nine out of 18 events completed, involving 6000 children from 200 schools around the U.K.
The Tata Kids of Steel season has reached the midpoint with nine out of 18 events completed, involving 6000 children from 200 schools around the U.K.
The first event in Newham, London’s Olympic borough, on May 4, attracted 900 children. All participated in the free event and had their first attempt at the three triathlon events of swimming, cycling, and running.
Events in west London and Cambridge have been similarly well attended, with 550 and 725 kids taking part at each event, respectively.
Heading to Scotland, two new events in Edinburgh and Fife attracted schools from a wide area in mid-May before the tour reached Teesside for the fifth year, where more than 800 children from 19 schools took part.
Kids of Steel visited Handsworth Leisure Centre in Birmingham on May 24 where 669 children took part, with great support from employees at Steelpark. And Great Britain triathletes were on hand to cheer on some 700 kid triathletes at the Leeds Tata Kids of Steel event on May 25.
The latest event took place at Maltby Leisure Centre, Rotherham on May 26. This was the first event in this area, and regional media relations manager Rachel Cox said: "It was great to give so many children from South Yorkshire the opportunity to experience triathlon at the Tata Kids of Steel event. It was a great success with over 678 children from 34 schools participating, and we would hope the event will be even bigger next year when news spreads around the children, teachers, and parents."
The next three events will be held at Mold (near Shotton) on June 22, Manchester on June 23, and Scunthorpe on June 24.
Tata Kids of Steel received a publicity boost, according to the company, by a survey that reveals a large number of British children cannot swim, do not know how to ride a bike, and rarely run. The poll of 1500 children for British Triathlon and Tata Steel suggests that 10% cannot ride a bike, 15% cannot swim, and almost a quarter (22%) have never run a distance of 400 m.
