LACA member to run five marathons fuelled only by school meals
A member of the Lead Association for Catering in Education's (LACA) National School Meals Week team is to run the equivalent of five marathons in five days to highlight the work of the school meals industry.
Karen Robinson, who has run the London Marathon 15 times and is a regular competitor in the Snowdon Marathon, will run the five marathons during National School Meals Week on 13-17 November.
The route is currently being planned to take in all LACA regions and as many schools as possible so that children and staff can join in with the run - a mile or maybe more. In addition LACA is asking members from the ten LACA regional divisions to join in and run alongside Robinson as she goes around the country, even if it is only for a short distance.
The "Powered by School Meals" message will be placed on themed lunches at schools with menus made up of "power" foods explaining what school meals provide for a busy day of work and play.
LACA said it hoped the initiative, one of several activities planned for the week, would highlight how healthy, nutritious and delicious today's school meals are.
One of the beneficiaries of the NSMW marathons will be the British Heart Foundation, which is the chosen charity of LACA vice chair Tim Blowers. Blowers will be the chair of LACA by the time the marathons take place.
There will be a number of free "Powered by School Meals" resources available for schools to download including posters, menu ideas, activity sheets and fund raising suggestions.
Blowers said: "This will be a marvellous event and we are all excited and totally supportive of it. It is a great way to demonstrate the quality, virtues and importance of education catering today and is particularly pertinent in the light of the discussions currently surrounding universal infant free school meals (UIFSM).
"To highlight the link between school meals and exercise and to encourage pupil participation across the country will undoubtedly make this one of the most high profile events of this years' NSMW and we expect that the media at local, regional and national level will give it significant exposure."
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