Sports scheme launched by former Sky director

Robert Tansey, a former brand director at Sky, has created mayathon, a free social enterprise initiative aimed at encouraging people to team up with a friend to complete 26 minutes of exercise on 26 days in May 2020.

It’s received the backing of Sport England and those interested in taking part can register their interest online now at https://www.mayathon.com/

Tansey previously played a central role in the launch of the mass participation cycling events Sky Ride and has created mayathon “in response to the obesity and mental health crises the UK faces.” 26 minutes of exercise a day means those taking part will exceed the 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week recommended by the World Health Organisation.

The aim is for mayathon 2020 to culminate with a mass exercise event on 26 May, with the organisers hiping to break the record for the biggest ever simultaneous workout in the UK.

Phil Smith, director of sport at Sport England said: “mayathon’s buddy system is particularly interesting as our own insight shows that having someone to exercise with is a big factor in helping someone make that key step from thinking about exercise to actually doing it.”