2011 WELS Kids Marathon Update #1

Welcome to the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon! We are excited to bring you this unique event full of fun once again this summer. If you are receiving this update, that means we have you on our list as an entrant. We hope you are enjoying running and reading all summer and learning the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. If you have any comments or concerns, please email us at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com.

Reading & Running Logs

There has been some confusion about the Reading & Running Logs this year. It can be found and printed from our website http://kidsmarathon.blogspot.com/. Please look to the right side of the screen near the top and you will see a link to the printable Logs. Print as many as you need. We apologize if this caused any confusion this year.

Final Event

For those of you in the Greater Milwaukee Area, the final “Mile” event will be held at Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Raabe Stadium on Saturday, August 27th starting at 6:00PM. This is an evening event this year in hopes that the kids who have sports practices on Saturday mornings will be able to attend. We are still planning the details but we should have lots of prizes to give away and maybe a surprise guest appearance. We do have a couple schools in Green Bay that have joined and will have their own final mile.

Name the Race Contest

In an effort to attract more kids to join us in the fun over the summer, we have decided to rename the WELS Kids Marathon. But we want YOU to give us the name. Please email us with your suggestions. The rules are simple, please keep the suggestions to a relatively short name and it must include “Kids Marathon” in the name. The child who suggests the winning name will be given a free entry into all our future Kids Marathon until they are past 8th grade. If more than one child suggests the winning name, he/she will all be given a free entry into next year’s Kids Marathon. Please email us your suggestions at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com.

New This Year

We are planning having up to 4 different “Group Fun Runs” around the Milwaukee area this summer. The dates have not been scheduled yet but they will likely be in the evenings on Saturdays or Sundays. The idea is just to get together and have fun exercising with friends and family so bring your friends along. We plan on having Group Fun Runs in South Milwaukee, Muskego, Waukesha, and possibly in Sussex. Each run will be planned by a different WELS Kids Marathon Committee Member so they will all be different. Everyone is welcome to any or all of these runs. Locations, dates, times, and directions will come soon.

Sponsors

An event like this cannot be done without all our great sponsors who help us out with cash donations, supplies and prizes. We would like to again thank Thrivent Financial who is our main sponsor for the 3rd year in a row. If you would like to become a sponsor or know someone or company that would like to become a sponsor, please email us at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com.

Website

Our website (http://kidsmarathon.blogspot.com/) has all the information you may need about the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon. Some sections you will find on the website include: Frequently asked questions, directions to the Final Event, course map, sponsor links, updates, etc. Please feel free to leave us a comment on the site as well.

Thank you,

Bill Schneider
WELS Kids Marathon Director

Quick Note

We are starting to get in a lot of entries for the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon, that is great! I have already received a few schools entries and many that were sent to the address listed on the bottom of the entry form. Please try to have entries mailed to me by mid June so we can start to order the shirts and medals so they arrive on time.

Also, please look to the right side of the screen on this website under the "Event Links" title and you will see a link for Printable Reading & Running Logs. Please go there and print out a log to help you keep track of your books and miles this summer. Teachers and School Representative, please print out some and hand them out to the kids who have signed up from your school.

Thank you again for all your help and for all of you ready to complete your marathons. Please email us with any questions or comments you may have. welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com

Bill Schneider
WELS Kids Marathon Director

2011 WELS Kids Marathon

It is time for the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon. We are beginning our 3rd year and looking to have a better than ever event.

The WELS Kids Marathon will again consist of kids grades K through 8 running or walking 26.2 miles while reading either 26 books or reading for 26 hours over the summer. Healthy minds and healthy bodies are our goal! We will once again all join together to run the final mile together where you will cross the finish line of your marathon receiving a finishers medal.

In the next few days, we will be putting the entry form on line you to download. If your school is participating, please check for who your representative is and sign up that way. If your school is not participating and you still want to enter, please download the entry form and send it to the address listed on the form.

We have some new schools participating this year and welcome any other school that would like to join. This year's final event will be held again at Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium. The final event will be held on Saturday, August 27th but this year, we will be starting at 7:00PM.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon, please contact us at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com

Stay up to date by checking this site and please send any questions you have to welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com

Icebreaker Indoor Marathon & Half Marathon

To all of you who ran in the Icebreaker Marathon this weekend, thank you for checking out the WELS Kids Marathon website. I will be running in the full marathon tomorrow morning and very soon after that, I will post a note on the plans for the 2011 WELS Kids Marathon. We would love to have your kids join us this summer for a summer full or running and reading.

In the mean time, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions section for more information.

Please email us at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com

Please check back soon!

2010 WELS Kids Marathon Final Update

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Thank you to all the kids and parents who made the 2010 WELS Kids Marathon a huge success. We ended up with 397 kids completing their marathon and receiving their finisher’s medal. If you were not able to make it to the final event back on August 28th, you missed out on one really fun event. Music, Food, Fun, and Prizes, and don’t forget the antics of Bango! I did not hear of anyone not having fun.

I also want to thank all of our sponsors that made the 2010 WELS Kids Marathon possible. Please check the website for a list of all our sponsors but I would especially like to thank Thrivent Financial, Slingstone Products, Hydrite Chemical, Performance Running , Sitzberger Widmann, Spiegelberg Financial, Food Ingerdients, and Consumer Packaging Group.

What did you think of the event? Please email me your comments, both good and bad, so we can make the next WELS Kids Marathon even better.

Pictures

We have lots of pictures to share. 652 total from 2 different photographers. Please go to http://welskidsmarathon.shutterfly.com/ to see all the pictures. This password will only be given out via email and not posted on the website. Please email us at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com to get the password. In order to make all the pictures fit on the site, I needed to reduce the size of the photos so on the website, they will look slightly grainy. The photos I have are very high quality and much larger in size. If you would like a copy of any of the photos, please email us at welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com and put picture request in the subject line. Please indicate the name of the photo in the body of the email. And then please give me some time in order to fulfill your request as I anticipate many.

I would like to thank Mike Scherf and Charlie Falkner for donating their time and talents by taking such wonderful pictures. Mike Scherf does do photography on the side including Senior Portraits, Child Portraits, and small groups. If you need some professional pictures taken, think of Mike Scherf and call him at either (H) (262) 968-4791 or (C) (262) 490-0630

If you have any pictures you would like to share or even some video, please send them to us. We would love to see what you have.

Wisconsin Lutheran College

A huge Thank you to Skip Noon and Steve Travis of Wisconsin Lutheran College for their support, help, and use of their facility for our final event. Without them, we would have no place to hold our final event.

Ashley Update

A quick update on one of the charitable contributions we chose and that all you kids gave to. MS Run The US. Ashley Kumlien has now completed her run across the entire United States from San Francisco all the way to New York. She arrived at City Hall in New York on Tuesday, September 25th. She has raised over $40,000 for research on finding a cure for MS. If you are interested in still donating, please see here website http://www.msruntheus.com/index.html

InStep Icebreaker Marathon, Half Marathon, Marathon Relay & 5K

I wanted to put this small promotion for the InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon, Half Marathon, Marathon Relay & 5K which I am on the organizational committee for. For all of you parents who need a purpose to keep running this winter, come run the Icebreaker that takes place at the Pettit National Ice Center in West Allis (State Fair Park) on the weekend of January 21-23. Check out their website for information http://www.indoormarathon.com/ I have run this marathon twice myself and if you think it is boring to run laps, I can assure you, it is just the opposite. This is my favorite marathon to date and I have now run 24 marathons. And if you can’t run a full marathon, there is always the half marathon, marathon relay, or even a 5K.

Finally, thank you again to all the volunteers and my WELS Kids Marathon committee for making this event possible. Look for the 3rd annual WELS Kids Marathon next spring. We anticipate that the good word will spread and we will have even more kids signing up. 2011 will be better than ever!

Thank you,

WELS Kids Marathon Organizing Committee
Bill Schneider – WELS Kids Marathon Director

WELS Kids Marathon Committee:
David Habben
Belinda Matter
Gwen Scherf
Sally Schneider
Greg Uehling

2010 WELS Kids Marathon Update #5

4 more days! Just 4 more days until the final mile of the 2010 WELS Kids Marathon. Most of you are done with your miles and your reading but I know some of you are not quite there. Don’t give up now, you can do it! Finishing a marathon is winning a marathon.

I did a little calculating and did you know that all 395 of you that are participating this year have run/walked at least a total of 10,349 miles. That is like running from San Francisco to New York and back, then just for fun, running back to New York. That is a long way.

The weather is looking outstanding for us on Saturday with lots of sun and little chance of rain. Please plan on arrive no later than 9:30 as there will be a line at packet pickup. We will have 3 lines so please look for the line assigned you’re your last name to make things go smoother.

Time Line

Here is a quick time line of the events planned for Saturday:
9:00 Packet Pickup opens
9:40 Group Warm Up
9:55 National Anthem
10:00 First Race for Kids Currently in 4th Grade or Younger
10:20 (Approx) Second Race for Kids 5th Grade and Older
10:45 (Approx) Raffle Prize Giveaways

Directions

A quick reminder that if you need directions to Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Raabe Stadium can be found at the WELS Kids Marathon website. Please see this link for directions.

Pictures

I know a lot of parents will be taking pictures and video of the final event and of your kids. If you would like to share them with us, please send them to welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com. I would love to see your pictures and video if you have some.

Media

I have tried to contact some of the local TV stations to cover the final event but I haven’t had any luck so far. If anyone has a good contact person I could inform of our event, please let me know so we can try to get some good coverage.

Thank a Yellow Shirt

Be sure to thank someone in a yellow shirt of Saturday. These yellow shirt people are the great volunteers helping you all keep safe and enjoy the final mile of the WELS Kids Marathon. They are giving up their own time to help. I appreciate all their help and I hope you do too.

Sponsors

We have been blessed with some late donations of food and water for you to enjoy after you have completed your final mile. Kwik Trip stores in Oconomowoc, Wales, and Muskego as well as Potter’s Piggly Wiggly in Oak Creek have graciously donated Bananas and apples and Century Springs in Mukwonago has once again donated fresh spring water for you to rehydrate yourself after the run.

Again I would like to highlight our 2 main sponsors this year:

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has helped us our tremendously. “Nearly 3 million members turn to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to help meet their financial needs. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans offers a wide range of competitive products and personal service. We are committed to serving Lutheran families, communities and congregations. Proud sponsor of the WELS Kids Marathon.”
Southeast Wisconsin Region
20800 Swenson Dr. Ste 175
Waukesha, WI 53186
262-432-6280

Slingstone Products LLC is the Wisconsin distributor for Nicoat UV and water base coatings, as well as the complete line of printing blankets, parts and supplies from Rosmini Graphics. Based in Muskego, Slingstone provides sales and technical support to offset, flexo, and screen printers. The company name reflects the faith in God that owners Mark and Lori Schommer have used as a daily source of inspiration. The bible refers to the smooth stone that David used to slay Goliath as a "slingstone". David knew that God was with him as he fought Goliath just as the owners of Slingstone Products know that Gods presence is an important part of their success in business today. Congratulations to all runners and readers….. see you at the finish line! http://www.slingstoneproducts.com/

Website

There is a website (http://kidsmarathon.blogspot.com/) with all the information you may need concerning the 2010 WELS Kids Marathon. Some sections you will find on the website include: Frequently asked questions, directions to the Final Event, course map, sponsor links, updates, etc. Please feel free to leave us a comment on the site as well.

Thank you,

WELS Kids Marathon Organizing Committee
Bill Schneider – WELS Kids Marathon Director

WELS Kids Marathon Committee:
David Habben
Belinda Matter
Gwen Scherf
Sally Schneider
Greg Uehling

2010 WELS Kids Marathon Update #4

We are now less than 2 weeks until the final mile. The committee is working feverishly to get all the final details under control. And all of you are finishing your last few miles and books if you haven’t already done so. As a marathoner myself, I am so proud of all of you and all the work you have done to finish this marathon.

We are close enough to start praying for good weather. Be assured though, even if it is raining, we are still going to run. We are hoping, though, for a nice sunny day that is not too warm. Pictures always look better on a sunny day. And speaking of pictures, we are blessed once again to have Mike Scherf attending to take pictures for us that will be posted on our shutterfly website (password protected) for everyone to enjoy. If you plan on taking pictures yourself, please share with us as we love to see all aspects of the day!

Charity #2

We are pleased to have chosen as a second charity “MS Run The US”. Ashley Kumlien is a 25 year old woman from Brookfield who is running across the entire United States (San Francisco to New York) to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for the disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS). 27 years ago, Ashley’s mother was diagnosed with MS. Why is she doing this? From her website in her own words: “I chose to raise awareness for Multiple Sclerosis because my mother, Jill Kumlien, has been battling MS for over 27 years. This disease has robbed my mother of the abilities you and I take for granted every day. This run is a tribute to her daily triumph over disabilities associated with having MS, and to all others just like her living with the disabling affects of MS. All donated funds raised by MS Run the US will contribute to The Montel Williams MS Foundation and The National MS Society.”

If you or any parents wants more information about Ashley or MS Run The US or would like to donate to her cause, please visit her website at

www.msruntheus.com

Prizes:

We have lots of prizes that have been donated for us to give away at the final mile. You must be present to win a prize and we have lots of prizes to give away. Here is a brief list of most of the prizes (we still have more coming):

6 Nike $25 Gift Card

Bernie the Brewer Bobblehead Doll

Milwaukee Brewers Cinch Pack with Brewers Water Bottle and Brewers T-shirt

2 Ticket Vouchers for a Milwaukee Bucks game in the upcoming season

4 Ticket Vouchers for a Milwaukee Admirals Game (Stern and Bow pack)

2 Complimentary Race entries from Midwest Sports Events for the 2011 Pewaukee Kids Triathlon
Midwest Sports Events Kids Backpacks

2 Performance Running $50 Gift Certificates

2 InStep Running & Walking Centers $50 Gift Certificates

2 Bicycle Doctors $50 Gift Certificates

2 Athlete’s Foot in New Berlin $50 Gift Certificates

Multiple Gift Certificates Barnes & Noble

3 Lasertag Adventure Memberships

Multiple Wisconsin Lutheran High School Shirts

Multiple Wisconsin Lutheran College Shirts

3 Posters donated by Wisconsin Lutheran High School

Race shirts from different marathon around Wisconsin including the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon, Fox Cities Marathon, Paavo Nurmi Marathon, WhistleStop Marathon, The Wisconsin Marathon, and others.

We also have 2 Complimentary Race entries from Midwest Sports Events for the 2011 Pewaukee Adult Triathlon to be given as prizes to some lucky volunteers.

Volunteers

I want to thank all of you who have already volunteered to help us out on August 28th, and some of you helping out even earlier stuffing goodie bags. We could still use a few more to make sure we run a smooth and safe event on the 28th. Please email us at

welskidsmarathon@yahoo.com if you are interested in helping. We have about 40 shirts to give out to our volunteers. We are in need of the following:

Course Marshall's to keep the kids safe

Food Prep Set Up

Registration/Packet Pickup Table

Clean Up Committee

Medal Hand Out

Sponsors

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has helped us our tremendously. “Nearly 3 million members turn to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to help meet their financial needs. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans offers a wide range of competitive products and personal service. We are committed to serving Lutheran families, communities and congregations. Proud sponsor of the WELS Kids Marathon.”

Southeast Wisconsin Region
20800 Swenson Dr. Ste 175
Waukesha, WI 53186
262-432-6280

We are also happy to announce that La Campagne Bakery of Mequon is donating cookies again this year.

Website

There is a website (

http://kidsmarathon.blogspot.com/) with all the information you may need concerning the 2010 WELS Kids Marathon. Some sections you will find on the website include: Frequently asked questions, directions to the Final Event, course map, sponsor links, updates, etc. Please feel free to leave us a comment on the site as well.

Final Event

A friendly reminder that the final event begins at 9:00AM and we ask that all participants arrive no later than 9:30 as we anticipate large lines to get through the packet pick up tables. We are planning a system to make this process smooth but we also have almost 400 participants that need to get there goodie bags.

Thank you,

WELS Kids Marathon Organizing Committee

Bill Schneider – WELS Kids Marathon Director

WELS Kids Marathon Committee:

David Habben

Belinda Matter

Gwen Scherf

Sally Schneider

Greg Uehling