Let’s get active safely!
Due to COVID-19 and CDC guidelines aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, after school activities including the Active SWV Kids Run Clubs have been cancelled. Active SWV wants to make sure kids can still have some of the structure and support being part of a sport provides. To achieve this, Active SWV is launching our Spring 2020 Kids Run Club program – virtual edition!
The Virtual Kids Run Club season will be open from April 13th-May 24th, and ALL kids are invited to participate.
Following CDC Guidelines and Staying Safe While Being Active: Active Southern West Virginia urges everyone to do their part by following CDC guidance to prevent the spread of infectious diseases by maintaining safe distances, washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoiding contact with eyes, nose, and mouth, covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and most importantly, staying home if sick.
Please note that Active SWV does not encourage gathering in groups to be active, or traveling to high traffic locations for activity. If you do choose to go to a public park or trail to get in some activity for the Virtual Regional Fun Run, please avoid crowded spots and be mindful and respectful of closings at those locations. Please protect yourself and others by following measures that the CDC is recommending to curb the spread of disease.
What does a ‘Virtual Kids Run Club’ mean?
- This means Active SWV will still provide weekly Kids Run Club activities just like at school, but you can participate and log your time online from home.
- We’ll invite you to use the free online tracking app, Clockify, to log your activity and see what others from your school are doing. This way you’re still connected to your Kids Run Club community.
- Participants who regularly log their activity at least once a week will receive a participation gift in the mail once the virtual season is over.
- Join the Virtual Kids Run Club Facebook event to connect with the community and post photos of your weekly workouts!
Regional Fun Run
- No Kids Run Club season is complete without a season ending Fun Run, and this virtual season is no different! This spring, Active SWV’s Regional Fun Run Event is going virtual too.
- Kids are automatically entered to participate in the Virtual Regional Fun Run when they register for the Virtual Kids Run Club season. Family and friends can join too! Read how to participate in the Virtual Regional Fun Run here.
- The event will have a youth 1-mile dash for kids and a 5k run/walk option for all participants. Participation medals will be awarded as well.
- Don’t forget to join the Virtual Regional Fun Run Facebook event page to share updates and post photos of your progress!
How do I sign up my child?
Active SWV is using the platform Clockify to track all participant activity. Please follow the steps below to register for the free Virtual Kids Run Club and Regional Fun Run.
- Complete Active SWV’s online waiver HERE. Please be sure to include your email address, as this is how you’ll get access to the Virtual Kids Run Club and Regional Fun Run events.
- Next you’ll receive an email from Active SWV inviting you to make an account with the free app, Clockify. Clockify is where you’ll access weekly activities and record participation for the Virtual Kids Run Club and Regional Fun Run. A guide for using Clockify is below.
- Now you’re ready to start logging your weekly activity on April 13th!
*If you do not receive a Clockify invite within two days, please email [email protected]*
How to use Clockify:
DESKTOP:
- Accept the Clockify email invite, and follow the prompts to create an account.
- Once in your account, select the ‘Time Tracker’ tab on the left side of the screen.
- Click ‘project’ on the top bar and find the appropriate week from the drop down menu.
- Next, select the ‘tasks’ drop-down to the right of the week you chose. Click the ‘task’ or activity you’d like to do. Now the bar at the top should have the week and task you selected written in green.
- In the ‘What have you worked on?’ box to the left of green ‘week and task’, click and describe what you did. For instance, how far did you run? What game did you play? What other activity did you do (biking, walking in the woods, kicking a ball, etc)? What stretches or warm up exercises did you do? Share here so others in your school can see what you’ve been up to!
- Next, click the tag icon, and select your school from the drop down menu.
- Go to the far end of the top bar, and manually add the date and the amount of time you spent doing the activity you completed for the task. Did you run for 10 minutes? Play a game for 15? Do some cool down stretches for 5?
- Finally, click ‘ADD’ on the far right end of the bar.
MOBILE:
The mobile app looks a little different on Android vs iPhone devices
- Open the app, and either tap the blue ‘Add Time’ (Android), or the blue ‘plus’ symbol (iPhone)
- Input the amount of time you spent doing the activity
- Select the date you did the activity.
- Move to the ‘description’ box, and write a brief description of the activity that you did.
- Now go down to the ‘add projects’ box, find the appropriate week, tap the ‘tasks’, and then select which week and task you did.
- Go down to the ‘add tags’ box, and select your school.
- When you are finished, touch ‘Ok’ at the bottom to log your activity!
To log your Regional Fun Run 1-mile or 5k progress, follow the directions above and look for the projects titled ‘Regional Fun Run 5k’ and ‘Regional Fun Run kids 1-mile dash’. If you are completing the 5k, please select either the ‘runner’ or ‘walker’ task under the ‘Regional Fun Run 5k project. For more detailed information and instructions, click here.
Active SWV will be tracking participation in the Virtual Kids Run Club program. If you have more than one child registered, please identify which child completed which activity task by writing their names or another identifier in the description of the activity. Thank you!
Ok, got it! What should I do for each weekly Virtual Kids Run Club activity task?
There are multiple ‘tasks’ or activities listed for you to complete every week on Clockify, just like the activities you would do in a regular Kids Run Club practice. For instance, you’ll see ‘warm up’, ‘running exercise’, ‘game/other activity’ and ‘cool down’ listed as ‘tasks’ within each week. Try to complete all four tasks every week, but if you aren’t able to, that’s ok!
We want running and being active to be fun and enjoyable, and not feel like homework. Down below in the Resources section, you’ll find a bunch of different ideas of activities you can do for warm ups, running workouts, games and other fun activities, and cool downs. Use these ideas, or come up with your own!
Here’s an idea of what sort of exercises to do for each activity task:
Activity Resources:
Here are some physical activity ideas and resources you can reference throughout the program and beyond:
- Kids Run Club manual: full of warm up exercises, sample running workouts, games, cool down stretches, and additional exercises.
- Kids Run RVA YouTube channel: Kids Run RVA is one of the programs of the Richmond, VA based nonprofit organization Sports Backers. Active SWV’s Kids Run Club program is based off of their model. Their YouTube channel had videos of Coach Jacki leading kids through warm up exercises, games, and more, many of which you can find in the Kids Run Club Manual linked above.
- Kids Run Club Weekly Workouts: weekly dynamic warm-ups, training runs, games and other activities (active bingo cards here), and cool-down stretches
Move Your Way partnership
Active SWV is honored to be selected as one of eight participating pilot sites for the national Move Your Way (sm) campaign for 2020 from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). With this recognition comes a team from Communicate Health to support launch events, social media campaigns, and educational resources to share with people across southern West Virginia.
The Goal of the Campaign is to promote the recommendations from Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
Active SWV encourages participants to get their weekly recommended amounts of physical activity, even when our usual routines are thrown off balance.
For a bonus prize, participants can also input their weekly Virtual Kids Run Club or Virtual Regional Fun Run physical activity into the Move Your Way(sm) tracker HERE.
Thank you to our sponsors Mountain Surf Paddle Sports LLC, Summersville Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Escape-A-Torium Escape Adventures. We appreciate your support.
