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For more on youth running see the July 2006 issue of Runner's World magazine
Club Relay Challenge (BAA)
Attleboro YMCA Jaguars Youth Track & Field
Photo Courtesy of Carol Goodrow, kidsrunning.com
Cross-Country | Girls Only | Fitness, Literacy, and Healthy Eating | Fitness Through Running Events | Fun Runs with a Training Component | IronKids | Marathon Distance | Mileage | Running Camps | Special Olympics | Track & Field | Track & Field and Cross-Country | Youth Running Festivals | Youth Running Workshops
CROSS-COUNTRY
Youth Cross-Country Program (Nittany Valley Running Club)
mjd1@psu.edu
GIRLS ONLY
Girls on the Run
Charlotte, NC
704-376-9817 / 800-901-9965
info@girlsontherun.org
Girls on the Run is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Its curricula address all aspects of girls' development - physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual. Girls on the Run International (GOTRI) is the parent organization of more than 100 Girls on the Run councils across the United States and Canada. GOTRI establishes, trains and supports a network of community-level councils with local volunteers. The volunteers serve as role models to the girls through coaching the 12-week, 24-lesson curriculum. The curriculum is delivered in these areas through after-school programs, recreation centers and other non-profit settings.
girlsontherun.org
FITNESS, LITERACY, AND HEALTHY EATING
Happy Feet, Healthy Food Kids' Club
Tolland, CT
508-347-7825 (h)
860-870-6750 (w)
Carol Goodrow
goodrow@verizon.net
This after-school kids club promotes healthy eating, running, walking, and journal writing. All lesson plans are on the Web site above to be shared with other clubs. The club has a family fun run, uses the Happy Feet, Healthy Food journal/text and promotes Happy Feet (healthy) school lunches at the Birch Grove Primary school and in other schools across the nation.
Web site kidsrunning.com/krpublish.html
Many Milers (RunVermont)
A youth running program for kids aged 4 to 14. Kids log their nutrition and activity miles.
Burlington, VT
802-863-8412
info@runvermont.org
New York Road Runners Foundation / ING
New York City Marathon, NY
Serving 15,000 kids a WEEK in over 110 New York City neighborhoods and 1,000 in San Francisco and Tampa Bay areas. The NYRRF was established in 1998 by the organizers of the ING New York City Marathon to motivate 'at-risk' youth to become physically fit. In both school day and after school settings, the Running Partners programs feature goal setting, nutritional and academic components.
nyrrfoundation.org
FITNESS THROUGH RUNNING EVENTS
Kids on the Run (Montgomery County Road Runners)
Affiliated with the MCRRC (Montgomery County Road Runners Club), one of the largest running clubs in the USA, Kids on the Run promotes fun and fitness through various running events. The Young Run Series is for children 12 years and under, entailing various running distances in a medley of races with fun names like The Piece of Cake Run. Children are given special t-shirts if they complete at least seven of the various races. Kids on the Run also has a Junior Participation Series for 9-18 year olds. In this series, youth run longer distances in regular MCRRC club races, giving them the opportunity to run with club members.
Rockville, MD
membership@mcrrc.org
Middle School Challenge (Celestial Seasonings Bolder Boulder)
The Bolder Boulder Middle School Challenge involves over 2000 students from more than 45 Bolder-area schools. Participating students train with an on-site coordinator (typically a teacher) for 6-8 weeks to prepare for a 6.2 mile walk, jog, run, or race. Program Director Scott Fliegelman provides support to participating schools by offering resource information about proper training and nutrition. In addition, each school can take advantage of the opportunity to have an all-school assembly led by guest speakers from the Bolder Boulder to help motivate the students about running and training for the Challenge.
Boulder, CO
303-444-RACE
race@bolderboulder.com
FUN RUNS WITH A TRAINING COMPONENT
Texas Children's Hospital Fun Run
Chevron Houston Marathon, TX Middle school students from 85 Houston schools participated in the training 2,100 students completed the 2006 Texas Children's Hospital Fun Run The focus of this program is 'building a community of healthy children'. In 2002 PE teachers and a doctor at Texas Children's Hospital developed a training guidebook. This valuable resource which includes lessons on 'Safety, Hydration and Nutrition', 'The Metabolic System' and 'Training the Cardiovascular System' is being used in 14 school districts and has been adopted by the Houston Independent School District as part of the official curriculum for middle schools. The guide is currently being adapted for younger age groups.
IRONKIDS
Lake Placid Iron Kids
Lake Placid, NY
518-891-6538 (w)
Richard Costanza
rtcostanza@adelphia.net
(found at USATF.org)
Lake Placid hosts a fall IronKids Cross-Country running program that is entirely supported by the Ironman Community Fund. In the winter, it switches to cross-country skiing and biathlon.
MARATHON DISTANCE
Fit for Life Kids Challenge
Sports Backers, Richmond, VA
3,000 elementary and middle school students are expected to complete the full program, 16,000 training logs have been distributed.
This free incentive-based fitness program culminates with the James River Kids Run on Saturday, June 17. Youth are encouraged to run or walk 26 miles over the course of a 10-week period. The program is flexible and allows for teachers, volunteers and parents to take the initiative to get children involved. Miles can be completed at home, during school recess, at soccer practice or PE class.
Intermountain Kids Marathon
Salt Lake City Marathon, UT
750 kids are participating in the training program currently This three month program which began in 2005 is for children 5 to 12 and has more than doubled its number of participants this year. Kids and parents can register online to complete 26 units of activities related to fitness, nutrition and good deeds.
Kaiser Permanente Youth Fitness Program (California International Marathon)
School teachers can enroll their students in this 8-week program leading up to the CIM. The suggested guidelines and training schedule provided gradually increase the distances run by students. Students are rewarded with certificates for cumulative distances achieved. Upon completion of the program -- a cumulative distance of 26.2 miles -- and the 2.62 mile marFUNrun which is held in conjunction with the CIM, students receive a CIM medallion. Students keep track of their performance in the Youth Fitness Program through the use of distance logs as provided by CIM.
Folsom, CA
916-983-4622
runcim@jhu.edu/runcim@psyber.com
Kids Marathon (Seattle Marathon Association)
The Kid's Marathon headed by the Seattle Marathon Association is designed to encourage physical as well as social well-being among youth. Children complete the first 25 miles of their marathon in stages by themselves between September and November and receive awards as they do so. The children then complete the last 1.2 miles together in the fourth week of November by running around the Seattle Center.
Seattle, WA
206-729-3660 / 206-729-3661
info@seattlemarathon.org
Kids Sports Stars
For 1,200 needy fourth- to sixth-graders, the challenge is to run/walk the total of a marathon distance in four months. Kids who keep moving and accumulating miles in this three-year-old Phoenix-based program get a shot at attending summer camp for free.
kidssportsstars.org
Marathon Kids
More than 100,000 kindergarten through fifth-grade kids "run" a marathon in this 10-year-old program that promotes fitness and nutrition. For six months they run in quarter- to half-mile increments. Their final mile takes place at running events in Austin, Dallas, Houston, or Harlingen, Texas, and is a community celebration, complete with finisher's medals.
marathonkids.com
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon's Youth Running Program
MN
2,000 students and 40 schools are expected to participate this year.
Twin Cities has recently hired a full-time coordinator that will work with the metro area school districts to recruit participants. A year-round training program for elementary students that is internet based will be launched in the fall and a partnership with local park recreation programs will provide training opportunities this summer.
Mercedes Kids' Run (Mercedes Marathon)
The Mercedes Kid's Marathon is designed to promote physical wellness among youth. Children involved in the program run 25.2 miles over a 16 week period, keeping a running log as they do so. The children run 1/4- 1 mile at a time during physical education class or at home with a parent. The last mile of the marathon is run at the Mercedes Marathon.
Birmingham, AL
20-870-7771
Justin Joffrion
justin@mercedesmarathon.com
Read, Right, & Run Marathon(tm)
Spirit of St. Louis Marathon, MO
2,800 children from 67 schools read 72,800 books, performed 72,800 good deeds and ran 73,360 miles this year.
This nationally recognized sustainable program, challenges children to READ 26 books, RIGHT the community with 26 good deeds and RUN 26.2 miles over a 6 month time period. Approximately 20% of the St. Louis Public Schools participated. In 2007, the program will expand to other cities in Missouri.
Students Run L.A.
City of Los Angeles Marathon, CA
250 teachers from 140 schools supported 2,247 students in their training
2,231 of those students completed the full 26.2 mile distance in March, an impressive 99.3% finish rate!
The program which began with a teacher in 1987 focuses on at-risk students in junior and senior high schools. Another impressive statistic is that 90% of the participating seniors graduate from high school and 80% go on to college. Honda and Saucony provide running shoes for every participant.
MILEAGE
Feelin' Good (Crim Kids Fitness)
Based on the Feeling Good Mileage Club, this is a site-based program at Genesee County, Michigan Schools. This simple, grade-school level program encourages kids to complete distances (either walking or running) during lunch, recess or after school periods as decided by a coordinating teacher. Participants are awarded small incentives for every five miles completed.
Flint, MI
Marti Austin
810-235-3398
maustin@flint.org
Just Run Program
Big Sur International Marathon
Serves 4,000 students and 40 schools in Monterey County, CA
The participants of this relatively new free program are in grades 2 thru 8 and are 67% Hispanic, 61% socio-economically disadvantaged and 19% are from migrant families. They accumulated about 90,000 miles of running and other activities with the help of teachers and parent volunteers in both school and after school settings. The program utilizes athletes of the Big Sur Distance Project for role models and offers many related programs which are described on the Web site justrun.org
Lakers on the Run at Lakeside Elementary
Every Friday is Fitness Friday for 600 K to sixth-graders who run laps to build their endurance. This 20-year-old program in Orange Park, Florida, has the highest school participation rate in local fun runs, bringing an average of 300 kids.
clay.k12.fl.us/les/
Mile Club at Shady Grove Elementary
Recess means track time for up to 300 K to fifth-graders in Ambler, Pennsylvania; they run/walk a half mile to a mile each day. The three-year-old club, recognized by the American Running Association with its Youth Fitness Honor Award in 2005, uses wall charts to display the kids' mileage totals, and when kids reach 10 miles, their names are announced in front of classmates.
mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us
Youth Running Program (Beach Charities)
St. Pete Beach, FL
727-363-8880
alanj@motionsportsmanagement.com
The Youth Running Program is designed to get elementary and middle school kids to get involved with a running or walk/run program. The program's focus is participation, achievement and the incorporation of healthy choices into everyday lives. The Youth Running Program serves 3,500 New York school children each week. The program is also Incentive-based for milestones reached, such as a cumulative five miles and each marathon (26.2 miles).
Walk/Run Across America at Howe Special Education School and Dearborn Montessori Academy
Able-bodied students and those in wheelchairs or using walkers log miles and compete together to win the class trophy. More than 160 first- to fifth-graders have racked up 14,000 miles this past year at the Dearborn, Michigan, school.
dearbornschools.org/schools/howe.htm
PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE
Active Lifestyles Program (The President's Challenge)
Bloomington, IN
1-800-258-8146
preschal@indiana.edu
presidentschallenge.org
RELAYS
Club Relay Challenge (Boston Athletic Association)
The BAA's Club Relay Challenge, in partnership with Adidas, incorporates track and field into the school curriculum of some 750 Boston-area youth. Over a four-week period, students train for a series of age-group and team-oriented relay races held just a few days prior to the running of the Boston Marathon.
Boston, MA
617-236-1652
mile27@baa.org
Junior Youth Relay (RunVermont)
A 10-week training program for youths aged 11 to 16. The goal for the kids is for them to train for and run a relay leg in the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon & Marathon Relay in late May.
Burlington, VT
802-863-8412
info@runvermont.org
RUNNING CAMPS
Youth Running Camps (RunVermont)
A week-long day camp for junior high and high school runners. Runners develop their running and racing skills and learn to train intelligently.
Burlington, VT
802-863-8412
info@runvermont.org
runvermont.org
SPECIAL OLYMPICS
Providing year-round sports training and athletic competition to more than 2.2 million people with intellectual disabilities in more than 150 countries. "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
specialolympics.com
TRACK & FIELD
Averill Park Road Runners
Averill Park, NY
518-273-5552 (h)
Nicole DePasquale
ndepasquale@nycap.rr.com
(found at USATF.org)
An 11-year-old program, open to kids aged 7 to 14. This youth running group hosts practices starting in early April at Averill High School, has taken part in the annual USATF Junior Olympics for Track and Field, and culminates its season with the local Junior Olympics.
Bethlehem Youth Track and Field Club
Bethlehem, NY
518-475-1927 (h)
Paul Turner
pturner1@nycap.rr.com
(found at USATF.org)
City Sports for Kids
City Sports for Kids at the New Balance Track and Field Center at the Armory is a youth track and field program that is part of the New York Road Runners Foundation. Founded in 1990, City Sports for Kids offers skills training for children of all ability levels in long-distance running, sprints, relays, hurdles, long jump, high jump, and javelin. Each session includes low-key meets within age group categories and colorful ribbons and t-shirts for all. The goals of the program are to promote physical fitness, self-esteem, and understanding among youth of different backgrounds.
Bob Glover
CoachBob@CoachGlover.com
http://www.nyrr.org/classes/citysports.html
Hershey's Track and Field Games
Lancaster, PA (Mid-Atlantic Region)
Darrell Lovelette
717-290-7181 ext. 101
dlovelette@manheimtownship.org
(found at Hersheys.com)
Created in 1975, the Hershey's Track & Field Games is the largest youth sports program of its kind in the United States and Canada. Meets take place in every state and province in North America. The program culminates with the North American Final Meet, which takes place in Hershey, Pa.
The program's goal is to introduce kids to physical fitness through basic events like running, jumping and throwing. It also works to help kids reach their potential and achieve a sense of personal reward.
Junior Olympic Track and Field (USATF)
Indianapolis, IN
317-261-0500
Jill Geer
jill.geer@usatf.org
Nittany Track and Field Summer Youth Club (Nittany Track and Field)
State College, PA
John Schmidt
jps28@psu.edu
Nittany Track & Field is a non-profit club that offers track and field training and competition that is suited to all levels of ability and experience. The club and coaches encourage participants to set personal goals and develop discipline and techniques needed to reach those goals. Club objectives are to foster a positive, fun, and supportive atmosphere for training. Boys and girls, aged 8 to 18, are welcome. Athletes participating with middle and high school track will not be allowed to participate until their school season is complete.
TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS-COUNTRY
Chatham Gold Youth Track and Field and Cross-Country Program Chatham, NY
518-392-4662 (w)
Shari Franks Crellin Morris Association
cma@taconic.net
(found at USATF.org)
Established in 1994 for children in grades 3 through 6. Its goal is to provide youths with an introduction to athletics and running, and to help kids build their self-esteem and confidence by discovering their potential for personal improvement in athletic performances. Season consists of practices and culminates in the Junior Olympics.
Clifton Park Track Club
Clifton Park, NY
518-877-0122 (h)
518-469-9831 (w)
Mark Tebbano
tebbanom@aol.com
(found at USATF.org)
This youth running program was founded to introduce youths aged 8 to 14 to cross-country and track & field, with the goal of getting them ready for competition. Registration is in April and the season runs May through July. Kids aged 8 to 15 are welcome. Events include the USATF Junior Olympics, the Hershey meets, and local youth track events. 120 kids will participate this year for spring track, 45 for fall cross country. About 50 percent of these are first-time participants. The club is run by volunteers, as well as by coaches from Shenendehowa Central School District. And it has served as a feeder program for high school track and cross country. Practices are held twice per week, and each participant follows a training program.
Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club
Albany, NY
518-456-5942 (h)
Doug Bowden
bowden@nycap.rr.com
(found at USATF.org)
This group holds meetings on the second Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Point of Woods Recreation Center. HMRRC promotes and sponsors road races throughout the year. The races are of all distances and for all ages and abilities. HMRRC also publishes a monthly magazine.
Onteora Runners Club
Athens, NY
518-731-7697 (h)
518-828-5676 (w)
Richard Gromek
gromekr@aol.com
(found at USATF.org)
The Onteora Runners Club is a member of USATF and supports youth members participating in Junior Olympic events. It competes in the Adirondack Association of USATF. ORC is the southernmost club in the association.
Red Gremlin Athletic Club
Red Hook, NY
518-373-5767 (w)
Jason DeRocco
runningman48@hotmail.com
(found at USATF.org)
The Red Gremlin Athletic Club is a school club at Niskayuna High School in New York. It uses this name when traveling to the national championships, since it can't currently compete as its own high school team. Currently, the club is looking to branch out for the USATF Junior Olympics.
Glencadia Bullets Youth Running Club
Kinderbrook/Valatie, NY
518-784-3320 (h)
518-885-4444 (w)
Chris Volney
chrisvolney@tbscontrols.com
(found at USATF.org)
Youth runners are aged 8 to 14, boys and girls. The club runs dual meets and invitational competitions within its USAT&F Adirondack Association. Normally, 70 kids are enrolled. Practices are held two to three times a week, once season starts. This year's first practice was April 9 at the Ichabod Crane High School track. This year, the club will host the Adirondack Association Junior Olympics, also at the ICHS track. Kids sign up through the local school district and advertisements in the local papers.
ORC Youth Running Series Program
Kingston, NY
518-731-7697
gromekr@aol.com
(found on Google)
YOUTH RUNNING FESTIVALS
Y.A.M. Scram (RunVermont)
A youth running festival held during marathon weekend in late May. There are half-, 1- and 2- mile runs, plus pre- and post- run activities.
Burlington, VT
802-863-8412
info@runvermont.org
runvermont.org
YOUTH WORKSHOPS
Youth Programs Workshop
The next Running USA conference (February 5-8, 2007, San Diego) will feature a special Youth Programs Workshop for school, club or event officials who want to start or enhance youth running and fitness programs. Contact Linda Honikman, Running USA Youth Programs Coordinator, for more information at rric@runningusa.org or (805) 683-0408.
Email the KidsRunning.Com Editor at carolgoodrow@verizon.net
