The spring 2019 Kids Run Club season is finished, and it’s been the biggest one yet! This season,18 schools and community groups formed clubs with over 855 kids and 85 volunteers participating. Five new Clubs started this spring at Crescent Elementary, Stratton Elementary, Hollywood Elementary, Mount Lookout Elementary, and the SALS Beards Fork after school group.
Spring End of Season Fun Runs
Clubs chose different themes and activities to incorporate into their end-of-season Fun Runs to celebrate the hard work they put in throughout their 6-8 weeks of practice. Color runs were hugely popular this spring with some just trying them out and some carrying on a tradition. Marsh Fork, Hollywood, Zela, and Bradley all experimented with color for the first time, holding the runs during the school day so all the kids could come out and cheer on their classmates. Stratton, Coal City, Valley, Stanaford, Mabscott, and Summersville also went with color, and held their runs after school so that more parents, friends, and family could attend and help douse the runners as they ran their laps.
Obstacle courses were also a popular choice this spring. The SALS Beards Fork and Birch River kids both ran a distance around their respective tracks before transitioning to some hurdles, jumping jacks, dancing, and more as they went through their obstacle course finales. Fairdale Elementary set up a slip and slide and water obstacles for the kids to cool off with as they finished their laps around the school. Mount Nebo also did something a little different this spring, incorporating some games into their pre-race warm up and finishing with a jump rope competition.
A few schools were able to go off campus for their last day of spring Run Club. The Fayetteville Elementary kids completed a trail run to cap off their season, and the Mount Lookout hiking club went to the Endless Wall trail along the New River Gorge to finish theirs. The REACH Home school group all traveled to Little Beaver State Park, where the kids (along with a few siblings and cousins) ran a mile around the field.
Crescent did a mini road race in the quiet neighborhood behind the school for their first season’s Fun Run, while Shady Spring did some afternoon laps around the school with friends and family watching and cheering on the kids.
Active SWV Regional Fun Run
Active SWV held the Fourth annual Regional Fun Run event again this year at Woodrow Wilson High School, and many Kids Run Club participants and families from Hollywood, Crescent, Shady Spring, Fairdale, REACH, and more came out to run either a 1 mile or 3 mile distance around the track. This year the Regional Fun Run event was held on May 11th, and with the end of the school year approaching for many Run Clubbers it fell at the perfect time to practice for their end of season Club Fun Runs.
All Run Club kids, coaches, and families are invited to participate in the event as an opportunity to get together and experience how far and wide the Kids Run Club Program extends. The program stretches from down in Summers county at Hinton Elementary, all the way up to Birch River Elementary in Nicholas county.
The event also featured a pre-race warm up dance party by REFIT Beckley, a post race obstacle course, and snacks and giveaways for all the participants.
Thank you to all the volunteers coaches who put in all the hard work to make this season’s Kids Run Clubs such a success, and thank you to the kids who sign up and keep the Clubs running!
If you would like to start a Kids Run Club at your school, or if you’re interested in volunteering with an existing Club, contact [email protected] to get started!
