Dallas Marathon Kids®
Kick Off Celebration (free!)
10 a.m.
Saturday, October 7
Dallas ISD Loos Stadium
3815 Spring Valley Road
Dallas Area K-5th children, families Ceremonial First Mile 30,000 little K-5th graders enrolled free, six month, nationally recognized 26.2 mile running/walking and nutrition project!
Presented by
Whole Foods Market
Dallas Area K-5th children
private schools, families
Launch of free, six month running/walking/nutrition program for K-5th graders!
www.MarathonKids.com
Dallas--Thousands of little Dallas area K-5th grade school children and parents studied and signed their six month Marathon Kids® Commitment©, turning it back into their classroom teachers. On Saturday, October 7, together in a glorious ceremonial Kick Off, they will begin their first, ceremonial mile of a 26.2 mile journey, with other Dallas area classmates, families.
In its fourth year in Dallas, the nationally acclaimed, free Marathon Kids® running/walking and nutrition program is expecting 32,000 registered Dallas Kindergartners through 5th graders to complete the six month, free running/walking and nutrition project. The children’s glorious, community-wide, free KickOff Celebration is Saturday, October 7, at 10 a.m. at the Dallas ISD Loos Stadium. The stadium is graciously donated by Dallas ISD.
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 Dallas Area Physical Education offerings and/or at home, coloring in their incremental miles and learning to make healthy food choices.
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!
The free Marathon Kids six month program is presented in the Dallas area to public and private school districts, homeschools, private schools, by Whole Foods Market.
Dallas Physical Educators are a critical conduit for Marathon Kids curriculum, encouraging a lifetime of physical activity and health for children. These teachers integrate the program as a key element in their ongoing goal setting, activity and nutrition work, set by Marathon Kids. It is the fervent goal of Marathon Kids to build habits over the six months not only of a lifetime of physical activity but also to nurture the vital promotion of Physical Education for all children in the Dallas area. Our target market are those children of low-income, African American and Hispanic heritage, who are most vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes and sedentary lives.
Marathon Kids® is a ten year old non-profit. Birthed in Austin as a grassroots initiative, it is now in Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Rio Grande Valley and soon to launch on the Navajo Nation. 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, Classroom and Physical Education Teachers, local fitness enthusiasts, Whole Foods Market Team Members, Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and Get a Move On! Volunteers all make the Kick Off event a glorious experience for the little children.
At the 10 a.m. free Kick Off Celebration, selected VIPs will run with the “Flag Lap Marathon Kids” in the ceremonial flag lap. A jazz saxophonist will play the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Participating with selected children from Dallas ISD, Plano ISD, Richardson ISD, Mesquite ISD, private schools in the opening, ceremonial flag lap will be:
- Lorna Storey, Dallas ISD Executive Director, Physical Education
- Pat Onley, Richardson ISD districtwide Director, Physical Education
- Sandi Cravens, Irving ISD, districtwide Director, Physical Education
- Representative from Plano ISD Physical Education
- Susan Henderson, Mesquite ISD districtwide Director, Physical Education
- Representive from Highland Park ISD Physical Education
- Whole Foods Market Dallas Community Relations Karen Lukin
- Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, Brooke Clark
- Eduardo Sanchez, Director of Institute of Health Policy, UT Health Science Center
- Get a Move On! Representative
As all the children cross the Kick Off Celebration 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 teacher or Principal about participation.
The six month program is free because of support from Whole Foods Market®, The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, The Moody Foundation, The Meadows Foundation, The Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, Dallas ISD and RunOn! Tireless volunteers from the Dallas running community and Physical Educators coordinate the bookend events for the children. Dallas Volunteer Coordinator is Richardson ISD Physical Educator Terry Wade. Donations to Marathon Kids, a 501-C3, can be made at http://www.marathonkids.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=5
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 showcased in The Weekly Reader, Scholastic News, USA Today, Nurses Digest, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, Prevention Magazine, CNN, etc. The free Los Angeles Marathon Kids program just received the national Saucony “Run for Good” Award, as well as a grant from the Mattel Children’s Foundation. The free program has an upcoming feature in Nick Jr Magazine.
###..a global collaboration of families running/walking and making healthy food choices
Our Mission: Marathon Kids® is a ten year old, free, endurance building running/walking/nutrition/gardening program for kindergartners through 5th graders. Our mission is to build joyful community around children and to 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. We enhance system offerings and safe environments, galvanizing communities. We advocate for and help sustain Physical Education as treasured curriculum for young children.
Volunteer? Terry.wade@risd.org
Media? Sponsorship? Questions? Kay@MarathonKids.com
