World Zimmer Frame Championships

March 31, 2011 - PRLog -- World Zimmer Frame Championships

Ready, Steady, Go…Go…...i said GO!!

Wacky Nation will shortly be seeking entrants for the inaugural World Zimmer Frame Championships.  Men and women are invited to enter the 100 metre race which will take place along the seafront of Eastbourne in August.  The winner will receive a lifetime supply of Cold Liver Oil.  

There’s no minimum age limit, but the organisers do require a doctor’s note to show that they are eligible to enter and that they require the use of a Zimmer frame to move around normally. Only standard specification Zimmer frames are permitted. Zimmer frames with wheels or motors will not be allowed.

More information:

There will be a time limit to complete the race of 4 hours.
There will be cardiac arrest teams at the start and finish.
Entrants will be provided with portable defibrillators
There will be portaloos at halfway
There will be a special prize for the oldest entrant (as long as they finish).
Entrants must be able to breath without assistance on the day of the race.

James Bamber, co-organiser of the event adds: ‘It’s about time the older section of the population had more opportunity to excel in sport.  Just because people are a bit slower and weaker shouldn’t preclude them from competitive sport.  There are marathon runners in their 90’s so age is definitely not a limiting factor.  That’s why we have also moved into backward running, because of its benefits later in life.  If the event in Eastbourne is a success I hope to expand the event in future years to cater for walking sticks, wheelchairs and commodes. We are also looking for a suitable sponsor for the inaugural race.’

Entries will open soon.  For more information please head to www.wackynation.com  

ENDS

Notes to Editor

About the organisers:  
       
Wacky Nation (www.wackynation.com) is committed to promoting lesser-known sports in the UK and around the world.  Their website is arguably the authoritative source for all unusual and unique sports, contests and races.  The Wacky Nation team have already written one book on 50 unusual sports around the UK.  Their aims are to further the popularity of alternative, fringe and new sports and exercise that appeal to all demographics, such as shin kicking, toe wrestling and backward running and remind people of the fun events that exist.  This year they are organising the 2nd UK Backward Running Championships in Manchester and the first official backward running race in London. More details at www.reverserunning.com

About Zimmer Frame Racing:

Zimmer Frame racing is a relatively new sport set up to take advantage of the growing elderly population that still want to keep fit.  The sport’s origins are in Japan with interest quickly spreading to Sardinia, New Zealand and Belarus. In the US the Zimmer frame is included in the Geriatrics Heptathlon that takes place in California. Whilst the only recorded race in the UK was in 2009 when residents of a care home in Cumbria competed to raise money for Comic Relief. The current world record for the 100 metre Zimmer Frame dash is 2 minutes 44 and set by Italian, Rolf Palio in 2008.  The organisers have hired Rolf this year as a pace maker so that a world record time attempt can be made.  The organisers are also hoping to break another record for most number of Zimmer frames in one place.  That record currently belongs to the town of Bognor Regis when BHS announced a half-price sale on electric blankets.

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Wacky Nation (www.wackynation.com) are committed to promoting and conceiving lesser-known sports in the UK and around the world. They have already organised the UK's first ever backward running race and have many more ideas for 2011 and beyond.