Dallas--Thousands of little Dallas area K-5th grade school children and parents start running and walking 26.2 miles over the next six months, with their parents and/or at school. Coloring in their incremental running logs in ¼ to ½ mile segments, they also color in each day they eat 5-a-day fruits and veggies. Besides running/walking 26.2 miles, Dallas Marathon Kids eat 26.2 days a month of 5-a-day fruits and veggies, to fuel their 26.2 miles of running over six months!
Saturday, September 29, at 10 a.m. sharp, at Dallas ISD’s Loos Stadium, they gather in a glorious ceremonial Kick Off Celebration as they start what seems at first an insurmountable project: Dallas Marathon Kids.
In its fourth year in Dallas, the nationally acclaimed, free Marathon Kids® running/walking and nutrition program expects 8,000 of the 30,000 registered Dallas children to run on Saturday at Dallas ISD’s Loos Stadium. Districts invited to participate are Dallas ISD, Plano ISD, Richardson ISD, Mesquite ISD, Irving ISD, Highland Park ISd, private schools and homeschoolers.
The stadium is graciously donated by Dallas ISD Athletics, for the occasion.
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 offering and/or at home, coloring in their incremental miles and learning to make healthy food choices.
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. They also celebrate a Whole Foods Market Community Giving Day for Dallas Marathon Kids on Wednesday, September, 12. This is where 5% of their sales goes to help keep Dallas Marathon Kids free for all K-5th children.
Physical Educators are a critical conduit for Dallas 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 and their own Standards for Physical Education. 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 promotion of more Physical Education for all children in the USA.
Marathon Kids® is an eleven year old non-profit. Birthed in Austin as a grassroots initiative, it is now in Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Rio Grande Valley. There are over 123,000 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: African American and Hispanic children. There are 294 towns and cities on the Marathon Kids waiting list, as well as 14 foreign countries.
Community runners, Physical Educators, Classroom Teachers, local fitness enthusiasts, Whole Foods Market Team Members, community volunteers, all make the free Kick Off Celebration event a an unforgettable experience for the little children.
At the free Kick Off Celebration, college athletes will run with the “Flag Lap Marathon Kids” in the ceremonial flag lap. A jazz saxophonist will play the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Also participating in the opening, ceremonial flag lap will be:
- Elsie Moreno, Dallas ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Susan Henderson, Mesquite ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Sandi Cravens, Irving ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Melinda Smith, Plano ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Rick Urbanczyk, Richardson ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Karen Lukin, Whole Foods Market Presenting Sponsor
- John Solomon of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
- Philip O’Quin from Children’s Medical Center of Dallas
- Representative from Dallas running community
- Terry Wade, Richardson ISD Physical Education Teacher & Volunteer Coordinator
As all the children cross under the bright colored balloon arch at the Kick Off Celebration Finish Line, after running in “rounds”, they will be given their EARNED free Reward Water Bottles, Reward Bumper Stickers and temporary “Run On!” tattoos. During the six month program, all incentives must be EARNED. Later in spring school assemblies, they will receive their Marathon Kids Finisher T-shirts.
The Final Mile Medal Celebration will be held Saturday, April 12 at Loos Stadium at 10 a.m.
Families with questions about Marathon Kids should visit http://www.MarathonKids.org or ask their Physical Educator or Principal about participation.
Marathon Kids® was featured in 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, Her Sport Magazine., Prevention Magazine etc. The free Los Angeles Marathon Kids program received the national Saucony “Run for Good” Award, as well as a grant from the Mattel Children’s Foundation. The LA program also has an upcoming feature in Nick Jr Magazine.
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..a global collaboration of families running/walking and making healthy food choices
Our Mission: Marathon Kids® is a free, endurance building running/walking/nutrition and gardening program for K-5th graders. We build joyful community around children and are 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 child develops the love and habit of moving through space and carries forward the power of muscular, nutritional and psychological well being.
Volunteer? Terry@MarathonKids.org
Media? Sponsorship? Questions? Kay@MarathonKids.org
Contributions to keep six month program free? www.MarathonKids.org Thank you!
www.MarathonKids.org
www.WholeFoodsMarket.com
www.bcbstx.com (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas)
www.childrens.com (Children’s Medical Center of Dallas)
www.runontexas.com (Run On!)
