Dear Parent,

As you may be aware, your child has been given the exciting opportunity to take part in this year’s Change4Life Durham Dash on Wednesday 4th June 2014. We hope they have an enjoyable experience! In order to ensure the event runs smoothly please read through this information carefully. If you have any questions at the end please speak to your child’s school or get in touch with me.

The event is catering for children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and is open to both boys and girls. We would like to invite you along with any additional family and friends to come along, spectate and enjoy the atmosphere of this unique event.

Below I have enclosed some information in relation to the event timings, the race route and field events as well as catering facilities that will be available. Further information can be found on our event website .

Event timings

Time / Event
From 4:30 / Registration all competitors
5:00 / Field competitors escorted to Palace Green
5:30-5:40 / Y3 Girls Heats
5:40-5:50 / Y3 Boys Heats
5:50-6:00 / Y4 Girls Heats
6:00-6:10 / Y4 Boys Heats
6:10-6:20 / Y5 Girls Heats
6:20-6:30 / Y5 Boys Heats
6:30-6:40 / Y6 Girls Heats
6:40-6:50 / Y6 Boys Heats
6:50-7.00 / Change4Life Smooth Radio Parent Race
7:00-7:15 / Competitors parade around palace green
7:15-8:00 / Y3,4,5,6 Road race finals
8:00-8:30 / Presentation ceremony

Format

Children will have the opportunity to participate in either an urban athletics road race OR urban field events. The road race will start at the Market Place and finish on the Palace Green. The road race will consist of 6 heats of 8 young people at a time that will run the 550m distance to the palace green. The Field events will be a carousel of activities in which all pupils participate in every discipline. There will be 6 finalists in each category for the road race; field events will be a straight final with an individual winner awarded for each separate field event within the carousel. Once children have finished their road race there will be fun Change4Life activities on the palace green for them to participate in should they wish to do so.

Car Parking

Parking is available at the Sands council car park, Walkergate Car Park and the Prince Bishop Shopping Centre.

Arrival

Please walk to the Market Place on foot as road closures are in place.

All participants need to arrive at the Market Place, please pay attention to the timings in the programme on Page 1. We cannot wait if anybody is late!!! On arrival children should meet their nominated teacher/responsible adults and then make their way to the barrier section in the middle of the Market place.

The nominated teacher/responsible adult needs to register at the reception desk once all of your team(s) that you are responsible for have arrived. Included with your race pack will be a copy of the competitor form that schools have completed. When everyone is present from your school the form needs to be handed in at the registration desk – only when this process is completed will your school be registered.

Individual children do not register at reception. By handing in the completed form we’ll know everyone is present.

Main Event

At 5:00pm teams who are competing in the field events will be escorted to the palace green and will walk up the road which will at this stage be pedestrianised.

Road Races commence at 5:30pm prompt. There will be a short warm up for each year group near to the start of the race. Once children have competed in the road race they will then enter the athlete waiting area half of the palace green. They can then if they wish gain access to their packed lunch and also some fun based come and try it Change4Life activities.

Children who win their heat will be given a pink T-shirt to wear, this is so that they can be identified by staff to ensure they are collected for their final.

Road Race Route (550m)

Road Closures

As part of being able to deliver a safe event of this nature it is necessary to secure road closures. To this end please visit the Change4Life Durham Dash website for exact information. However as a basic guide the route above will be closed to traffic from 3:00pm onwards with the Palace Green being inaccessible to vehicles from 7:30am to allow for set up.

Change4Life

As the Durham Dash expands for the third year running, we would like to take this time to thank Durham County Council and their Change4Life programme for investing in the event.

Change4Life aims to support and encourage everyone to ‘eat well, move more, live longer.’ These days, ‘modern life’ can mean that we’re a lot less active. With so many opportunities to watch TV or play computer games, and with so much convenience and fast food available, we don’t move about as much, or eat as well as we used to.

Active kids are happy kids. Kids aged 5 to 16 need to do at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day to burn off calories and prevent them storing up excess fat in the body which can lead to cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It also keeps their bones healthy and encourages muscle strength and flexibility.

The Durham Dash, as well as other local and national Change4Life initiatives, will help families across County Durham to move more and eat well. Keep an eye out for the Change4Life team at the event as they deliver activities to promote healthy, happy lifestyles!

Join the Change4Life movement, like thousands of others across County Durham. Visit for more information. You could even sign up as a local supporter to receive more great stuff! For information about the range of opportunities that are available throughout County Durham contact 08000 223 500 or visit

Catering

Ramside Hall hotel are kindly providing a packed lunch for every child involved in the event. In addition refreshments will be available on the palace green provided by Ramside Hall hotel which include hot and cold drinks, along with healthy snacks such as noodles and jacket potatoes.

Packed lunches will be distributed on the palace green. Those children finishing the road race will be given their packed lunch in the athlete waiting area (see attached map). For children who are taking part in the field events, we will leave it up to the teacher/responsible adult in charge to decide when to collect the packed lunches.

C4L Smooth Radio Parent Race

It’s not just the kids who are there to have fun! We will be looking for all those keen parents out there for our parent race. Nike have kindly donated vouchers for the fastest male and female on the night, so make sure you have those running shoes on!

Competitors Parade

After the relay heats and the field events have finished competitors that have not qualified for a Road Race final will all have the opportunity to take part in a “parade walk” around the Palace Green. This will take place between 7:00pm – 7:15pm before the Road Race finals and the presentation ceremony.

Presentation ceremony

Every child that participates will get a certificate and those that come in the top 3 will be awarded with a medal. We would encourage all spectators and participants to stay until the end of the ceremony where there will be the opportunity to take photographs and enjoy the atmosphere. We respectfully request that during the presentation ceremony parents & spectators remain behind the coned section to watch the ceremony. This is for health & safety reasons to stop overcrowding and give the children plenty of space.

Depart

The event will finish at 8:30pm at this point it is the teacher’s/responsible adult’s responsibility to ensure the children get home. We would recommend deciding a meeting point for any parents who are just coming to collect children.

Additional Information

  • Parents will NOT be allowed in the athlete participation areas (Market place barriered section & palace green grass) at any time unless they are a designated helper with the school (accreditation passes will be issued to schools prior to event) this is just to keep the event safe and the numbers manageable.
  • Parents are welcome and encouraged to spectate and will be able to see all events clearly from outside of the barriers both along the road race route and on the palace green
  • We would encourage all pupils and parents to stay until the presentation ceremony. We do realise however that some parents/relatives may need to leave with their child prior to the end. If this is the case they may collect their child via a designated crossing point as long as this has been cleared with the teacher/responsible adult.
  • Children are NOT allowed outside of the participant areas either on the palace green or the market place at any point during the event. This is to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all involved.
  • Once children competing in the road race leave the Market Place they will not be returning unless they are in a final.
  • The event will not be cancelled unless we experience severe weather conditions so we would advise depending on how the weather is looking that children bring an anorak/waterproof with them. If it is raining heavily children waiting for the road race can wait inside the Main Hall, this will be decided by the Market Place manager.
  • There will be a lost children point located on the palace green at the Top Left Hand side when facing the cathedral.
  • If any parents do wish to pick their children up prior to the end of the event they must do so via the parent crossing point near the athlete waiting area marked on the map. This point will be stewarded and children will be ticked out if they leave.