Sheffield schools ‘race across the world’ in first-ever citywide exercise event

Organised by the Sheffield Federation for School Sports, The ‘Race Across The World’ event saw the schools compete to cover a distance of 495km – from Lusaka to Victoria Falls - in a virtual race across Zambia on Sunday, July 5.

Students, staff and parents were all encouraged to walk, run or cycle whatever distance they could to help their school succeed and be crowned city winner.

It is the first-ever citywide event and follows two previous races earlier this year between Westfield and Silverdale schools which proved to be extremely successful in inspiring people to get outdoors and stay healthy.

Matt Hurt, a PE teacher at both Westfield and Silverdale, said: “We just wanted to get some sort of competitiveness going between the schools in the lockdown and because Westfield and Silverdale are part of the same trust we tried it out there initially.

“We did two races where it was just Westfield and Silverdale then we opened it up to the city for the third and final one.

“It’s a big Sheffield Federation for School Sports (SFSS) event and we thought the ‘Race Across The World’ would be engaging for students. Each time we’ve done it we’ve picked a country with a set distance.

“The day ran 9am until 6pm, and the first race of 495km was completed about 11am by Silverdale who won the race.”

Once the initial race to Victoria Falls was completed, the schools – which are all part of the SFSS – were then encouraged to go even further to see who could accumulate the furthest distance throughout the day.

Silverdale were first again with a total of 3,154km, Westfield were second with 1,721km and All Saints finished third with nearly 1609km.

“It went really well,” Mr Hurt added. “In terms of numbers, 444 students took part, 245 staff and 224 parents.

“Every school got involved that needed to. In total, the 11 schools covered a distance of 12,437.27km which is actually the distance from Sheffield to Lusaka itself.”

The 11 schools involved were:

Silverdale

Westfield

All Saints

Fir Vale

King Ecberts

King Edwards

Tapton

Newfield

Birley

Forge Valley

Stocksbridge

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