Austin Area Marathon Kids!
Free Ceremonial Kick Off Celebration!
Six month, free running/walking and nutrition program
Saturday, Sept 16, 2006
9 a.m. Austin ISD
11 a.m. all other school districts
FREE!
UT Mike Myers Track & Soccer Stadium
Free Parking!
Presented by Whole Foods Market
The Moody Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Meadows Foundation
The Topfer Family Foundation
Austin, Texas--Thousands of little Austin area K-5 th grade school children have signed their Marathon Kids® Commitment©, turning them back into their Physical Education and/or classroom teachers. On Saturday, together in a glorious Kick Off, they will ceremonially begin their first mile with other Central Texas families.
In its tenth year in Central Texas, the free Marathon Kids running/walking and nutrition program is expecting 40,000 registered Austin area Kindergartners through 5th graders to complete the six month, free project. Their glorious, community-wide, free KickOff Celebration is this Saturday, September 16, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the University of Texas Mike Myers Track & Soccer Stadium. The stadium and parking is graciously donated by University of Texas Athletics.
20,000 of the 40,000 registered Marathon Kids are expected at the ceremonial free Kick Off.
This is the anticipated moment when K-5th graders either shyly or boldly raise their hand in class and say "Yes! I think I can run/walk 26.2 miles over the next six months! And, yes, I will commit to running 1/4 to 1/2 mile either at school or with my parents!" The net is thrown wide. All children can be Marathon Kids: fast/slow, overweight/slender, rich/poor, sighted/blind, able/disabled, deaf/hearing. Parents join in with the children, as the children work hard through Physical Education classes and/or at home, coloring in their incremental miles and learning to make healthy food choices. This year the Austin ISD little children are offered consultation with developing "Marathon Kids 5-a-Day Food Gardens" on their campus, by local Sustainable Food Center.
During the six months, the children run, eat healthy and incrementally color in:
Marathon Kids Running Log© They color in as they run at school and/or with their family in 1/4 to 1/2 mile increments over five months.
Marathon Kids Fuel Log© They color in the Marathon Kids Fuel Log when they eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day for 26.2 days of every month! A marathon of healthy eating!
Marathon Kids is presented in the Central Texas to fourteen school district elementary schools, by Whole Foods Market .
Marathon Kids is a ten year old non-profit. Birthed in Austin as a grassroots initiative, it is now in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Rio Grande Valley and Los Angeles. There are almost 137,000 K-5th graders now doing the nationally recognized, free Marathon Kids program. Marathon Kids target market are those children most vulnerable to childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes. There are 294 towns and cities on the Marathon Kids waiting list, as well as 14 foreign countries.
Community runners, Physical Educators and other fitness enthusiasts, Whole Foods Market Team Members, Austin Police Department, Austin Association of PE Teachers (AAPER), Austin Wranglers, Orange Jackets, UT School of Kinesiology students, all UT Athletic teams join in to help the children at their KickOff Celebration this Saturday.
At the Kick Off Celebration, selected UT Athletes will run with selected children in the ceremonial flag lap. Also in the opening, ceremonial flag lap will be selected little elementary school representatives. Running with the children in the opening, ceremonial lap will be:
Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Health Services
Adolfo Valadez, MD, Austin Travis County Health & Human Services, Director
Betsy Foster, Whole Foods Market
Paul Carrozza, President's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports, Run Tex Inc.
Austin Police Department Fitness Team Representative
Jeff Galloway, former Olympian, Author, marathon training coach
Coach Bev Kearney, UT Women's Track & Field
Karen Banks, Gardening Director, Sustainable Food Center
Michelle Rusnak, districtwide Physical Education Coordinator, Austin ISD
Traci Neely, districtwide Physical Education Coordinator, Round Rock ISD
Ross Moody, The Moody Foundation
A Marathon Kid will hand a bouquet to each dignitary at the beginning of the ceremonial Flag Lap.
As all the children cross the Finish Line, after running in "rounds", they will be given their EARNED free Marathon Kids Reward Water Bottles. During the six month program, all incentives must be EARNED. The children will soon have their own Marathon Kids Water Bottle and their Marathon Kids Bumper Sticker. At the Final Mile Medal Celebration the Marathon Kids will earn their Finisher Medals. Later in school assemblies, they will receive their Marathon Kids Finisher T-shirts.
Families with questions about Marathon Kids should visit http://www.MarathonKids.com/ or ask their school PE teacher about participation.
Marathon Kids® was featured in the December issue of Runners World Magazine as one of 2005's Ten Inspirational Heroes of Running. It has been featured in The Weekly Reader, Scholastic News, USA Today, Nurses Digest, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, etc. The free Los Angeles Marathon Kids program just received the national Saucony "Run for Good" Award.
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http://www.marathonkids.com/
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
www.RunTex.com
www.SustainableFoodCenter.org
www.JeffGalloway.com
http://texassports.com/images/photo_gallery/2004_05/003/marathonkids/index.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-09-17-marathon-kids_x.htm
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/02/20marathonkids.html
Our Mission: Marathon Kids® is a free, endurance building running/walking, nutrition and schoolyard gardening program for kindergartners through 5th graders. Our mission is to build joyful community around children and be quickly accepted into public, private and home schools as a free, innovative celebratory fitness program, resonating with the child…and with the child's family. The goal is for the child to develop the love and habit of moving through space and to carry forward the power of muscular, nutritional and psychological well being.
