A Watford FC defender delighted pupils by visiting their school to open a running track.

Christian Kabasele raced the children at St John’s Catholic Primary School, in Rickmansworth, in a lap of honour around their new Daily Mile track on Thursday, December 14.

The Daily Mile is an initiative which began in Scotland and has quickly spread south, encouraging all children to run or walk for 15 minutes each day to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.

The new track, funded by the parents and the Sports Premium grant, will “enable the children to complete their Daily Mile all year round”.

Tony Hall, the head teacher at the school, said: “We were thrilled that Christian Kabasele was able to come to St John’s to mark the opening of our new track.

“Pupils’ well-being, both physical and mental, is high on our agenda and through participation in the Daily Mile, we have seen an improvement in the physical fitness of our children and their ability to concentrate for sustained periods in the classroom.

“St John’s is a high achieving school and we hope that this new track will help the current pupils and future pupils of the school to excel both academically and physically.”