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Team sporting activities improve colleague wellbeing, despite being virtual

Run 4 Wales (R4W), organisers of popular mass participation events including the Cardiff University Cardiff Half Marathon and ABP Newport Wales Marathon have found a marked improvement in wellbeing and colleague connectivity amongst organisations involved in their new Virtual Corporate Challenge Series.

With the COVID-19 pandemic permanently altering the ways in which we all work, with many organisations experiencing a permanent shift towards a ‘hybrid’ office (a mixture of home and office-based working), team cohesion and relationship building are now more important than ever.

With traditional mass participation events still unable to take place, R4W launched its new Virtual Corporate Challenge earlier this year, to generate a charity fundraising, corporate social responsibility and team building opportunity for corporates looking to raise money, morale, or company profile. The series comprises of running challenges in January, April and August with teams of 3 or more people able to get involved in one, two or all three of the events.

The first event in the series, a kick-start January 10K, saw organisations like Cardiff University, Monmouthshire Building Society, University of South Wales, Capgemini and BT join in, looking for a meaningful fitness challenge to motivate their teams.

Hundreds of runners went head-to-head, running alone from their own remote locations but connecting with colleagues in the lead-up and post-event. They were all looking to be crowned the fastest firm and win a donation for their chosen corporate charity, but as a result reported a number of positive benefits associated with just taking part.

In the dark depths of January, 93% felt encouraged to get outside more and despite not meeting up in person to participate, 88% felt more connected with their team members. 70% reported improved personal wellbeing as a result of getting involved with 96% feeling more positive about their organisation for encouraging them to participate.

R4W are now inviting organisations looking to bring their colleagues together (virtually, or together within outdoor socialising regulations) to get involved in the next events in the series, a 5K taking place throughout April and a 10K throughout August – so they too can enjoy some of the reported benefits.

More information about getting involved can be found on the R4W website here.

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