THE windswept Furness coast was filled with the pitter patter of tiny feet as about 170 youngsters set off on a 5km run around its shores.

Children and staff from Vickerstown Primary on Walney took part in a Race for Life event on Friday, organised by high level teaching assistant Suzanne Boyle.

Mrs Boyle, who is a run leader for young members of the Walney Wind Cheetahs running club, was also one of the last of Cumbria’s female coaches to be presented with a baton as part of Active Cumbria’s Pass on Your Passion campaign.

Richard Metcalf, coach development officer at Active Cumbria, has been taking a giant inflatable baton on a trip around the county and dropping in on a host of female sports and activity coaches on the way.

The coaches have been symbolically picking up the baton and passing it onto other volunteers and enthusiasts.

It is hoped the tour will raise awareness of the need for women to become involved in physical activity and to volunteer as coaches in the future.

Mrs Boyle joined the Walney Wind Cheetahs to hone her own running skills, but was soon inspired to become a run leader.

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She particularly enjoys working with the youngsters in the Walney Wind Cheetah ‘Cubs’.

“Most Wednesdays we’ll go down to the beach and we’ll run up and down and play games,” said Mrs Boyle, from Barrow.

“On Saturday I do the ParkRun (in Barrow Park), sometimes for myself, but sometimes with some of the children that have been coming to the Wind Cheetahs.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Awesome way to start the project and raise the profile of women who inspire! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PassOnYourPassion?src=hash">#PassOnYourPassion</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thisgirlcan?src=hash">#thisgirlcan</a> <a href="https://t.co/W3CnfHvzVe">https://t.co/W3CnfHvzVe</a></p>— ThisCumbrianGirlCan (@ThisCumbGirlCan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisCumbGirlCan/status/884153750159491072">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I think once we started the Cubs I realised how much it helped. It’s just running with them and talking to them and seeing how quickly you can get them from saying ‘I can’t do this’ to then being able to say ‘You ran all that way and you’ve not even noticed’.

"Then it’s brilliant to watch them when they realise what they’ve done. We are good positive role models and it’s important just to keep everybody moving.”

The Pass on your Passion campaign is being delivered in the county by Cumbria County Council’s Active Cumbria Team.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This lady is unstoppable, and that fast they call her Sonic! Meet Sonja from <a href="https://twitter.com/parksidepanther">@parksidepanther</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PassOnYourPassion?src=hash">#PassOnYourPassion</a> <a href="https://t.co/bsMvi007uw">https://t.co/bsMvi007uw</a> <a href="https://t.co/6wjV2wL93X">pic.twitter.com/6wjV2wL93X</a></p>— Active Cumbria (@ActiveCumbria) <a href="https://twitter.com/ActiveCumbria/status/883967734719098880">July 9, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The campaign involves 13 County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) across the North of England and aims to raise the profile of women coaches, as well as inspiring more female participants into coaching.

People can post on social media about the campaign using the hashtag #passonyourpassion.

More information is available on Active Cumbria’s website at www.activecumbria.org and their Facebook page.