Los Angeles

Marathon Kids®
 
Kick Off Celebration (free!)
10 a.m.
Saturday, October 14

 LAUSD School Board President Marlene Canter to run with children in Opening Flag Lap!
UCLA Drake Track & Field Stadium
 
UCLA Athletes, with Los Angeles K-5^th children, families   Ceremonial First Milefree, six month, nationally recognized 26.2 mile

 running/walking and nutrition project! 

Presented by
Whole Foods Market
 

Los Angeles Unified School District K-5^th children private schools, families
 
Launch of free, six month running/walking/nutrition program for K-5^th graders!
www.MarathonKids.com   Los Angeles--Thousands of little Los Angeles area K-5^th grade school children and parents are signing their six month Marathon Kids® Commitment©, turning it back into their  classroom teachers.  On Saturday, October 14, together in a glorious, free Kick Off, they will begin their first, ceremonial mile at UCLA Drake Track & Field, with other Los Angeles classmates, families and UCLA athletes.  In its first year in Los Angeles, the nationally acclaimed, free Marathon Kids® running/walking and nutrition program is expecting 25,000 registered Los Angeles K-5th graders to complete the six month, free project.  Their glorious, community-wide, free KickOff Celebration is Saturday, October 14, at 10 a.m. at the UCLA Drake Track & Field Stadium.  The stadium is graciously donated by UCLA Athletics for the LAUSD children, teachers, volunteers and families on that morning.   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 LAUSD classroom teacher offering 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 Los Angeles to public and private school districts, homeschools, private schools, by Whole Foods Market.   LAUSD classroom teachers 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 and the California 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 the vital promotion of Physical Education for all children in Los Angeles.  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.  There are almost 137,000 K-5^th 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 Teachers, local fitness enthusiasts, Whole Foods Market Team Members, UCLA and USC Volunteers all make the Kick Off event a glorious experience for the little children. At the 10 a.m. free Kick Off Celebration, selected UCLA Athletes will run with the “Flag Lap Marathon Kids” in the ceremonial flag lap.  A jazz trumpet player will play the “Star Spangled Banner.” Almost all UCLA teams will run in the rounds with the K-5th children, teachers, parents. Also participating the opening, ceremonial flag lap will be: 

1. Coach Jeannette Bolden, UCLA Women’s Track & Field Coach
2. LAUSD School Board Chairman Marlene Canter
3. LAUSD Physical Education Advisor Chad Fenwick
4. UCLA Athlete Representative
5. Whole Foods Market Team Leader Marci Frumkin
6. Mattel Children’s Foundation Representative
7. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Marathon KidProgram Director Jennifer Sluder, MD
8. Volunteer Coordinator Armin Shaverdian from USC
9. Eduardo Sanchez, MD, Director of Institute of Health Policy, UT Health Science Center
10. Thomas Hanson, Simulation Trainer of NASA Astronauts, marathoner 

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.   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, 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 LA 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 5^th 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.
 Volunteer?  shaverdi@usc.edu  Media?  Sponsorship?  Questions?  Kay@MarathonKids.com  www.MarathonKids.com