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More Questions About A School Running Program
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Dear Carol,
In addition to being a lifelong runner, I am a career Naval Officer who has
spent plenty of time away from my kids during my time at sea. I now find
myself looking at 3 years of "shore duty" with a very flexible schedule and
plenty of time in devote to the type of kids running clubs mentioned in the
September 2000 issue of Runner's World.
I do have plenty of questions before I present this to the Elementary school
my kids attend. - Is sponsorship necessary for T-Shirts, Ribbons, etc... or do you
recommend asking the parents to cover this cost?
- What time of day do you recommend for the program? During the schools
scheduled PE time, right after school, or some time later in the evening?
- Do you have any recommendations to successfully present this to the
principal and PE teacher ??
I am sure many more questions will come up if I can get this off the ground
but answers to these would help me get started.
Ben Vaughan Dear Ben, Sponsorship is not necessary. You can ask parents to foot the cost of a t-shirt. Bought in bulk they should cost 5 dollars or less even with a custom made design. You just need to shop around. Custom designed ribbons will be under a dollar a piece. For my classroom fun run the parents buy the t-shirts. They often order more for the other family members. I've personally purchased the one or two for the kids whose parents didn't buy them. Of course, sponsorship would help. Check around. There are usually some PTO, PTA parents with local connections who can easily get sponsorship money for a good cause like children's fitness and health. Programs are usually held during recess or after school. I run with my class during school hours but recess time is great if you are trying to reach the whole school population because you have a captive audience...everyone is there, however the time is short. After school is optimal if parents will pick up their kids. You have a longer time and they can go right home after if it's raining a little outside. Yes, you do need to be successful with presenting this to the principal and P.E. teacher. I'd be prepared to discuss a few of the programs happening around the country. Perhaps you could summarize the ones described in the Sept. RW article. Many schools make joining the running program optional. You'll have to work with the school system and parents on this to see how they want to handle participation. Check back at this site. The programs are pouring in!!! Oh, don't neglect the curriculum tie-in angle. They can do journal writing in school about their running. You can map a route across the country and add up miles as they run, tracking their progress. Many, many schools do this. We had a Trek Across America a few years ago. Students and parents sent in important facts about destinations we reached and we posted them on a Web site. We had our first fun run as a reward for reaching 100 miles. You are welcome to print our Log-a-Mile charts for the kids. Don't forget, now you have this Web site to publish things about your program. Good luck! Carol Goodrow kidsrunning.com Please let us know about your program after you get started.
Do you have any questions about your child's running program? Feel free to email the kid's editor at carol.kids@rodale.com. 
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Note from the kid's editor:
Running is natural for young kids, but they still can use guidance when starting a running program. 
Photo of Matthew Linde, RW, Carol Goodrow, KR, and Parker Morse, RW at Runner's World, Emmaus, PA, July 2000, by Melanie Strong, RW. 