Almost half of residents in the North East have confessed to being so unfit that they would get out of breath running for the bus, a new research finds.
As much as 54 per cent of people surveyed consider themselves to be according to the new statistics released as part of the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) brand new fundraising challenge MyMarathon.
The BHF’s poll also revealed that 46 per cent of people in the North East said, if they went running now the furthest they could manage is just half a mile or less, while 19 per cent felt they could only make it to 100 metres. Of those who could manage to run a mile, 31 per cent said the last time they did so was over 10 years ago.
The statistics show 39 per cent of people in the North East say they do not feel fit enough to join the gym or start exercising.
While for almost a quarter of people (24 per cent) just walking up a few flights of stairs would get them out of breath.
This May, the BHF is launching a brand new fundraising campaign MyMarathon to challenge the nation to put their best foot forward and run a marathon over a month to help raise money for life saving research.
Christopher Allen, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the BHF, said: “These statistics are concerning and paint a worrying picture about the nation’s fitness levels.
“Heart disease can affect anyone at any age, but keeping physically active is one of the best ways to help build a strong and healthy heart so we shouldn’t ignore the benefits.
“Running a marathon is no easy feat, but with the MyMarathon challenge you decide the place and the pace, so it’s a great way for people of all fitness levels to get active and help support our vital research. Now everyone can say they’ve run a marathon this May!”
The survey showed that three in 10 (30 per cent) of people in the North East feel running is only for people who are really fit and healthy.
With MyMarathon, people can complete the 26.2-mile challenge in your own time, whether it’s over 4 hours, 4 days or 4 weeks – you decide the place and you decide the pace.
It is a great way to get active and join the fight against heart disease.
Heart and circulatory disease affects around 7million people in the UK and is responsible for around 155,000 deaths each year – an average of one person every three minutes.
In the North East alone, over 358,000 people are living with heart and circulatory disease.
Every pound raised from MyMarathon will help the BHF fulfil its ambition to fund half a billion pounds of new research in the next five years, to revolutionise and accelerate the fight against heart disease.
Sign up online for MyMarathon by visiting this website.