Austin Area
Marathon Kids®
11th Year!
Kick Off Celebration (free!)
9 a.m. Austin ISD
11 a.m. all other school districts
Saturday, Sept 15
University of Texas Mike Myers Track & Soccer Stadium
UT Athletes with Austin Area K-5th children, families
Ceremonial First Mile
FREE, six month,
nationally recognized 26.2 mile
running/walking, nutrition and schoolyard garden program!
Presented by
Whole Foods Market
The Meadows Foundation
Kick Off of free, six month running/walking/nutrition program for K-5th graders!
www.MarathonKids.org
Austin—On Saturday, September 15, thousands of little Central Texas area K-5th grade school children and parents ceremonially start running and walking 26.2 miles over six months, with their parents, classmates.
Their First Mile of 26.2 and the free Marathon Kids program, can seem, at first to a young child, an insurmountable project!
Coloring in their incremental running logs in ¼ to ½ mile segments, over six months, they mark each day they run or walk and each day they eat 5-a-day fruits and veggies. Besides accumulating miles by running/walking 26.2 miles over six months, their goal is to eat 26.2 days a month of 5-a-day fruits and veggies. This healthy habit fuels their 26.2 miles of running over time!
In its eleventh year in Austin, the nationally acclaimed, free Marathon Kids® running/walking and nutrition program expects 20,000 of the 45,000 registered children to run on Saturday, September 15, at UT’s Mike Myer’s Track & Soccer Stadium. 10,000 will be there at 9 a.m. with Austin ISD. 10,000 more will be at the 11 a.m. “other than AISD” gathering.
The stadium and parking is graciously hosted by University of Texas Athletics. The Marathon Kids get to run their first laps with UT Athletes and the nationally recognized Mayor of Austin, Will Wynn, along with their School Superintendent Pat Forgione!
Offered through schools, the 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 Austin area to public and private school districts, homeschools, private schools, by Whole Foods Market.
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 and their own Standards for Physical Education. It is the 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 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, Baltimore. Chicago Marathon Kids launches in 08-09. There are over 123,000 K-5th graders participating in the nationally recognized, free Marathon Kids program. Marathon Kids target market are children most vulnerable to sedentary lives, 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, Classroom Teachers, local fitness enthusiasts, Whole Foods Market Team Members, community volunteers, Austin Police Department, AustinFit all make the Kick Off event a glorious experience for the little children.
At the free Kick Off Celebration, UT Athletes will run with the “Flag Lap Marathon Kids” in the ceremonial flag lap. A jazz saxophonist will play the “Star Spangled Banner.” Representative schools will also be awarded their weatherproof “Marathon Kids Schoolyard Garden” sign in front of the crowd!
Also participating in the opening, ceremonial flag lap will be:
- Will Wynn, Austin Mayor
- Eduardo Sanchez, MD, UT Health Science Center, Director Institute of Health Policy
- Michelle Rusnak, Austin ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Nona Evans, Whole Foods Market Marketing
- Betsy Foster, Whole Foods Market Vice President
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas Community Relations John Solomon
- Paul Carrozza, RunTex Inc, President’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports
- Austin ISD Superintendent Pat Forgione
- Traci Neely, Round Rock ISD Physical Education Coordinator
- Karen Banks, Sustainable Food Center Gardening Program Director
- Coach Bev Kearney, UT at Austin Women’s Track & Field Coach
- Representative UT at Austin Athlete
- Austin Police Dept Running Team representative Sgt Scott Cary
As children cross under the magnificent balloon arch at the Kick Off Celebration, after running in “rounds”, they will be given their EARNED free Marathon Kids Reward Water Bottles and bright green Reward Bumper Stickers. They then can have their Rewards Water Bottles signed by UT Athlete Autographs.
During the six month program, all incentives must be EARNED. Later at their Feb 23 Final Mile Medal Celebration, they will receive their Marathon Kids Finisher Medals. At springtime school assemblies, those who finish will also receive their Marathon Kids Finisher Shirts.
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? Courtney@MarathonKids.org
Media? Sponsorship? Questions? Kay@MarathonKids.org
Contributions to keep program free? www.MarathonKids.org Thank you!
www.MarathonKids.org
www.WholeFoodsMarket.com
http://www.bcbstx.com (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas)
www.RunTex.com
www.GinnysPrinting.com
