Dear Carol,
I am an avid runner with three children. I trained for 2 marathons with my oldest in a baby jogger (nuts!). My oldest child just turned 4 and will be in a pre-kindergarten program in September. Since he has been running with me since he was 8 weeks old, I only think it is natural to offer a program to his school.

His class will have 8 children - 5 days a week from 9 - 3:30. The location is in the city with no close access to a park or track. It would be easy, and safe, to run around the block without having to cross a street. His school is across the street from a fire station - maybe I could recruit some of the firefighters to help!

Do you know of anyone that has started a program for kids this age? How far can kids this age run? Should they run on the sidewalk everyday (maybe it's just my old bones that suffer from constant sidewalk pounding!).

Any resources, referrals, and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Dear Kathy,

Starting a program for kids this age would be so cute and loads of fun. It would also be fantastic for the kids.

I don't know of another running program for preschool kids but so what! It's a great idea and you can do it.

Your kids could use our Rainbow Cave program to log their 50 meter runs and at the same learn to color in the lines and perhaps some would learn to read their color words too!

Your program could also include running games, stretching, and healthy snack.

I do not think the sidewalk will hurt young children for running for short distances. You may, however, choose to have your running program 3 days per week.

There are infinite things you could do with this with young kids. And yes, recruiting the firefighters is a great idea. If you do this I'd encourage you to have family fun run 'Run, Spot, Run!' like my class does every year. A 'Run, Spot, Run!' would be perfect for it uses the Dalmatian theme. We had Dalmatian t-shirts made and we painted our faces like spotted animals. Perhaps you could have 25- 50 meter races or a 1/4 mile fun run. Please do this!!! And let us know all about it.

Note from the kid's editor:

Developing a running program that is right for your kids is a dynamic process. Start out with a basic plan and then adapt as you see what the kids respond to.

Do you have any questions about a child's running program? Feel free to email the kid's editor at carol.kids@rodale.com.