from Women in sport Waterford Institute of Technology investigated whether participating in the Mini- Marathon makes women more active and what strategies can be used to support them staying active. The Flora Women’s Mini-Marathon is the largest event of its kind in the world. A
research study published today by the Irish Sports Council investigated the physical
activity behaviour of over 11,000 women who participated in the 2007 event, a unique
opportunity to evaluate the impact of high profile events on long term engagement with
sport.
The research found that women increased their activity levels in the build up to the Mini
Marathon which then decreased over time after the event. The study identified a number
of areas where women could be supported in their efforts to stay active.
‘Meet and Train’ groups were identified by two thirds of the participants as a way to
support women who wish to get active for the mini-marathon and as a way to maintain
activity levels after the event. The Council is committed to supporting the development of
such groups as well as to help generate awareness for existing groups.
The report also highlighted the fact that the overwhelming majority of women took part
to raise money for charity with over 280 charities being represented at the event. The
Council will seek to engage with this sector as another potential avenue to provide
support to women who wish to train for the event or simply join up with their local Meet
and Train group. The Council intends to provide a pack to all charities represented in the
mini-marathon with details of contacts for local Meet and Train groups and events, how
to set up a group and training tips including nutritional information.
The majority of participants indicated that more local events would help to increase their
activity levels. The mini-marathon is currently oversubscribed with half of all participants
from Dublin. More local events would help alleviate this problem as well as providing
activity opportunities for women outside the Dublin region. The Council will help to
generate awareness of these events as well as support development of new and existing
events through the Local Sports Partnership network.
The Council will work with the all interested parties involved in providing advice and
resources to participants in the Mini Marathon in order to maximize the benefits of their
participation in this hugely popular event.
For more information on the Flora Mini-Marathon study including contact information
for local ‘Meet and Train’ groups, charity listings, training tips and links to entering this
year’s event please visit www.irishsportscouncil.ie. For information on the Fit4Life
programme, please visit www.athleticsireland.ie. For information regarding participating
in the Mini Marathon or contacting a charity, please visit www.womensminimarathon.ie.
The report is titled “The impact of participation in the Flora women’s mini-marathon on
physical activity behaviour in women”. It was written by Niamh Murphy and Aoife Lane
of the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science at the Waterford Institute of
Technology and Professor Adrian Baumann at the University of Sydney, Australia. It was
carried out as part of the Irish Sports Council’s research progamme and is available at
www.irishsportscouncil.ie and www2.wit.ie
For further information regarding the research report, please contact:
Peter Smyth, Research Manager, Irish Sports Council 087-6846713
Tony Cunningham, Research Executive, Irish Sports Council 087-9922857
Niamh Murphy, Waterford Institute of Technology, 086-8317630