Jubilee Hall Trust has pioneered a new programme to get the feet of inactive Londoners off the couch and pounding the parks.

The health charity’s new initiative aims to inspire beginner runners by providing a challenging goal as well as accessible support and training to help them reach it. Participants are invited to participate in free coaching sessions at the Jubilee-operated Armoury gym in Hampstead in the ten weeks leading up to their goal – a 10K Trail Run on Hampstead Heath.

That Trail Run took place on 19 September, when English long-distance great David Bedford fired the gun to start nearly 200 people in the inaugural Jubilee Hall Trust outdoor running event. The event was an opportunity to get local residents more active, while raising funds for the charity’s work to get the Camden community fitter and healthier.

Efforts were made to encourage the least active residents in Camden to participate – a group that made up 10 per cent of the total runners on the day, with a further 10 per cent being new runners. Almost three-quarters of those registered didn’t meet the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week, while 30 per cent ran once or less per week. More encouragingly, 99 per cent have said that they intend to keep running after the event.

The main 10K Trail Run, which was supported by Parkrun, wound its way across the hills and dales of Hampstead Heath. Alongside the main event, 30 runners of all ages completed the 2K Family Flash Dash, two-thirds of whom were completely new to running.

Money raised from the event is still being tallied, will all proceeds due to benefit Jubilee Hall Trust’s community programmes, which include free after-school activities for young people in Camden playgrounds, free exercise on referral programmes at their gyms and free Heart 2 Heart cardiac rehabilitation classes.