Simmons Park in Okehampton became a riot of colour last week as girls from across Devon came to take part in the Neon Run celebrations.

Working with the Okehampton Community and Recreation Association (OCRA), Active Devon, a non-profit organisation which encourages Devonians to get more active, put on a event for girls to celebrate their completion of a couch to 2k or 5k run.

As part of the event, the girls were offered T-shirts to decorate in neon and glow-in-the-dark colours which they could then try out in a specially-created dark room in the Pavilion in the Park.

Ian Blythe, general manager of OCRA, said: ‘It was a brilliant event and it was great to be there. As well as the run, there were also cricket, cycling and dancing sessions.’

The idea behind the event was to encourage less active girls to get involved in sport through a fun activity without the pressure of competition or self-consciousness.

Lisa Alford, project officer at Active Devon, said: ‘Evidence shows that girls became more active during the pandemic lockdowns because they could do exercise online without feeling any judgement or worries of boys peering over the fence, so we wanted to put something on for the less active girls.

‘Any who identified as female could join and there was no competition involved; every girl who entered got a medal.’