WINNINGTON Park Rugby Club's mini and junior section are coming to the end of their lockdown home nations challenge.

Players in each age group from the under sixes to the under 16s, along with their parents, have set out to complete 800 miles of exercise before the first game of the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship on Saturday.

The 800 miles represents the distance from Winnington Park to Twickenham, to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Murrayfield in Edinburgh and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and the challenge - which began on January 17 - allows for the exercise to be done through walking, running or cycling while adhering to Covid-19 guidelines.

Around 10,000 miles had been covered across the ages during the first two weeks.

"The main purpose of this is to continue to promote mental health and wellbeing," said the club's communications officer, James Neill.

"Exercise is the key to maintaining both physical and mental positivity.

"Zoom H.I.I.T (high intensity interval training) sessions are being used, with senior players engaging with this, and the collective distance from these sessions is logged towards the overall team score.

"There will be Winnington Park club shields to be won for the top three teams who achieve the furthest distance. Once engraved, they will take pride of place in the clubhouse and will form part of this unprecedented history.

Future lockdown challenges will take place for the whole club to engage with as we progress through this very difficult time."