According to NHS figures, national running events like the London Marathon and Great North Run have inspired thousands to get healthy.

Visits to the NHS Couch to 5K webpage were expected to rise following the Great North Run in Newcastle in September 2024.

Analysis by NHS England has shown that traffic to the webpage rose by 136 per cent on the day of the London Marathon 2024. The page received 13,232 visits, compared with 5,602 on the previous day.

Visits also rose by 63 per cent on the day of the Great North Run 2023, with more than 2,000 extra visits to the webpage.

The NHS ‘Couch to 5K’ programme is a nine-week running plan, aimed at helping non-runners and beginners gradually work towards running 5K.

The plan involves three runs a week, with a day of rest in between, and a different schedule for each of the nine-weeks and is available as an app.

Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, said, “Whenever there’s a televised running race, we always see a considerable increase in the number of people coming to the NHS website for information on the Couch to 5K programme.

“The Couch to 5K programme is a fantastic way of getting beginners running for 30 minutes or more. And who knows – in a year’s time you could be taking your place at the starting line of a half-marathon.”

Steve Cram, British athlete and narrator on the Couch to 5K app, said, “It’s fantastic to see so many people inspired by the Great North Run who want to give running a go and Couch to 5K is a great place to start.

“It’s really flexible, you can do it all in in your own time, and it’s something that’s achievable for absolutely everyone.”

NHS statistics on public health showed that there were 8,716 hospital admissions due to obesity in 2022/23. A 13 per cent increase on the previous year.

Published in 2023, the ‘Health Survey for England 2021’ showed a higher proportion of men (70 per cent) than women (59 per cent) aged 16 and over met the 2011 aerobic guidelines of at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.

According to the NHS website, there is strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life. Exercise can reduce the risk of major illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and lower the risk of early death by up to 30 per cent.

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