Team Personal Best: Get active with London 2017's grassroots athletics scheme

Runners take part in a Team Personal Best event with So Let's Go Running Bexley

As London hosts the World Athletics Championships, the organisers are encouraging the wider public to get active in support of the events.

A grassroots initiative - entitled Team Personal Best - aims to attract people of all ages, abilities and levels of fitness to take part in athletics-themed activities run by clubs and community groups around the UK.

Clubs can submit events at the Team Personal Best website.

An event can be anything athletics related: a family sports day or fun run, a sports club open day, coaching course or more, with suggestions listed on the submission page. It's a chance to bring this year's biggest global sporting event to your local area and foster community links in the process.

More than 100 events have been registered and anyone wanting to get involved can use the event finder to discover what's going on in their area.

Participants are encouraged to use social media to share their personal-best times - or any stories of achievement, no matter how big or small - with the hashtag #TeamPersonalBest.

Youngsters tried out the long jump and other athletic disciplines at Cambridge Harriers' Team Personal Best event

One of the clubs already signed up is So Let's Go Running Bexley, which has registered its summer running events for newcomers.

Claire Osmon, who was a running novice before joining, says: "I came along as a complete beginner and Brian and Dawn [Bexley organisers Brian Page and Dawn Annett] have made me so welcome and put me at ease.

"I'm incredibly unfit but they still praise and encourage me and totally make me feel like I'm part of the group. The whole group is amazing and feels like a big family."

Team Personal Best is part of the London 2017 Inspiration Programme, which comprises 11 projects aimed at harnessing the impact of the championships to boost nationwide participation in the volunteering, community, disability, schools and international sectors.

The IAAF World Athletics Championships are held at London Stadium from 4-13 August.

You can watch the action from the World Athletics Championships live on BBC TV and Red Button, with coverage also on radio and online.