The National Swimming Center De Tongelreep in Eindhoven is part of Genneper Parken. De Tongelreep is unique in the Netherlands with, among other things, a 50-metre competition pool with 3,000 seats, a 25-metre diving pool and a 4-lane training pool. In this training pool the InnoSportLab develops innovative products and techniques to help swimmers with their training and to improve their performance.

TimePoint offers many possibilities for top-class sportspeople as well as for recreational sportspeople. Where times used to be clocked manually, you can now immediately see in which time a specific distance is covered.

The National Swimming Center De Tongelreep distinguishes itself when it comes to scale and offer from the European pools as a result of the combination of a large-scale leisure pool with slides, instruction pools, outdoor pools, recreational pools and the 3 pools described above. At the swimming center there is room for recreational swimming, swimming lessons, special groups, individual recreational sportspeople in groups but also for people swimming a few lanes, second-rank competitors and the national and world top.

FIRST TIMEPOINT SYSTEM LAUNCHED IN THE UK.

The Great North Way is the first permanent interactive timing system in the UK and forms an integral part of the newly launched Great Activity Campaign, providing a training environment for runners, cyclists and walkers alike and we invite them to 'Take to the Streets' in the fight against inactivity.

The location of the Great North Way is Baltic Square, Gateshead, situated on the banks of the River Tyne nestled between the iconic new landmark the Sage Gateshead and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. It forms part of the prestigious Gateshead Quays development, one of the most exciting arts, leisure and residential destinations in Europe with Gateshead's Millennium Footbridge crossing the famous River Tyne linking Gateshead to the vibrant city of Newcastle.

The Newcastle Gateshead Quayside has established itself as an area regularly used by people of all ages and abilities that wish to keep physically active, and is the venue for the world famous 'Great North International Road Races' staged in association with the BUPA Great North Run. These events attract participants across a broad spectrum of abilities and are televised worldwide showcasing the area to an audience of millions.

The Great North Way, the first official UK Great Way and first UK ChampionChip TimePoint, covers a distance of exactly 1 mile (1609.344 m) around the scenic NewcastleGateshead Quayside. But you can define your own routes using the electronic timing point at the start / finish of the Great North Way as your point of reference.

Find out more about the Great Activity Campaign at www.greatactivity.org.

CANBERRA WIN AIMS/CHAMPIONCHIP AWARD FOR INNOVATION 2007

Australia’s Canberra Marathon initiative of utilising a weekly running programme in schools to encourage a healthy lifestyle in children has successfully claimed the inaugural World AIMS/ChampionChip* Award for Innovation in road running, securing a prize of US$10,000.

The Canberra Kids Marathon encourages school age children to complete the 42.195km marathon distance over a number of weeks. A basic program is to run 1km each day from Monday to Friday for eight weeks. This can be done in the child's own time or as part of a school or sporting club programme. The innovative Australian programme defeated strong competition from the 235 races across 85 countries in AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Road Races) membership.

Cees Verhoef, Chief Executive of sponsors ChampionChip, proudly presented the award to Canberra Marathon organizer Fran Seton at the 16th World Congress of AIMS, recently held in Xiamen, China.

A healthy lifestyle

The programme, aimed to encourage a healthy lifestyle and social responsibility, is run in association with the Australian Institute of Sport and is part of a wider schools-based initiative, raising funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute of Australia. Those involved also establish ‘pen friends’ in USA as a result of close links with the Los Angeles Marathon.

The popularity of the initiative meant that record-breaking figures registered for this year’s event with 310 children representing a 38 per cent increase on numbers in 2006. The Canberra Marathon itself attracted over 1000 entrants and was held over the weekend of the 14th & 15th of April.

Co-Race director Fran Seton was delighted by the achievement and commented: ‘For Canberra to get this international recognition is fantastic. The event was successful in encouraging young people to participate in sport and promotes a healthy lifestyle. We are delighted that this recognition has raised the profile of the Canberra Marathon and Australian running as a whole.’

Innovation

World President of AIMS Hiroaki Chosa commented: ‘AIMS in conjunction with ChampionChip is pleased to introduce the new Innovation Award. We are committed to recognizing the dedication and expertise of Race Directors and the service they provide throughout the world. Canberra is a worthy first winner.’

Chief Executive of sponsors ChampionChip, Cees Verhoef, remarked: ‘Innovation is what ChampionChip is all about. We want to encourage innovation within the sport and reward race directors for coming up with great ideas. It is an honour to present the inaugural AIMS ChampionChip Innovation Award to Canberra in recognition of their Kids Marathon programme. Hopefully this will encourage others to follow their excellent example.’

Marathons and road races wishing to win the next award should become AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Road Races) members by contacting Hugh Jones, Secretary, AIMS: Tel: +44 207 209 3193 e-mail: