JUST weeks after daily mile runs were introduced to pupils at a Nympsfield primary school, the children have clocked up a distance equivalent to travelling to Pisa.

When pupils at St Joseph’s Primary School returned from their Easter break they were introduced to daily mile-long runs as part of their school routine.

Aimed at improving pupils’ fitness and concentration in lessons, the Daily Mile Old Spot’s European Trot sees all pupils running laps of the school’s field each day.

Adding an extra element of fun to the activity, the cumulative number of miles run by the children is totted up each day and their overall efforts are displayed as a journey around Europe.

In the nine weeks since the scheme was brought in they have run 2,773 miles – the equivalent to more than 16,500 laps of the school field – and have reached Pisa in Italy.

Wendy D’Arcy, the school’s headteacher, said that the daily runs had made a real difference to pupils’ fitness and concentration.

“We received information about the daily mile and thought it would be a great thing to bring in here,” she told the Gazette.

“The basic idea is to improve the health and wellbeing of children and it really has made a difference and parents are very supportive of it.”

“It has really helped the fitness and concentration of the children and they really seem to enjoy it too.”

Information about the daily mile was sent out to every school in the county earlier this year by Active Gloucestershire following funding from the county’s clinical commissioning group.