Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Icebreaker Indoor Marathon & Half Marathon

Congratulations to all the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon & Half Marathon finishers.  Whether this is your first marathon/half, or your 100th, you did it!  You did something most people in America will never do.   It doesn't matter if you did the Half Marathon, the Full Marathon, the Marathon Relay, the 5K, or even the Gold Medal Challenge (you are truly crazy, I know, I did it a few years ago), you were out there improving your health and by telling all your friends and family, you are a visible example of a healthy lifestyle.

The I Run Kids Marathon is a program intended to help kids learn how to live a healthy lifestyle while also teaching kids that summer is not a time to stop learning and that having a healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body.

Kids, grades K through 8, who join the I Run Kids Marathon will run (or walk) at total of 26.2 miles as well as either read 26 books or read for 26 hours over the summer.  The program begins the first day of summer vacation and ends with the Final Mile celebration in late August.  Kids can run or walk in intervals as short as 1/4 mile while they track their miles on a specially designed runner/reading log that will be linked and printable from this website.  Last years reading log can be seen [HERE] or by clicking on the link on the upper right of this website.  Kids can also read full books or in intervals as small as 15 minutes at a time.

At the Final Mile celebration, all the kids will gather at Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium to run their final mile of their marathon together.  Kids will receive an I Run Kids Marathon shirt as well as an I Run Kids Marathon finishers medal once they cross the finish line.  There will be music and fun for the kids before the race and refreshments, healthy snacks, and prizes after the race.  Can't make the Final Mile?  No problem, unlike an adult marathon, kids do not need to show up at the Final Mile to receive their shirts and medal.  "You did the work, you earned your medal" is the philosophy.  Runner packets will be delivered to the schools of the kids participating through their school.

While kids are welcome to sign up by themselves, we encourage schools to get involved.  In past years, we had as many as 30 different school participating and making the I Run Kids Marathon a full school event.  There is no fee for a school to participate.  For more information on how to have a school participate, please see [HERE].

For more information about the I Run Kids Marathon, please see other posts on this website or feel free to email me at kidsmarathon@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Bill Schneider
I Run Kids Marathon Director