Young people with running program

“I really like it because it helps in a lot of the other sports that you play,” said Jones, who also plays softball and is on a competitive cheerleading team. “It helps with your endurance and it’s fun because you get to run with your friends.”

Sixth-grade teacher Amy Frickleton is one of the teachers who helped to start the club.

“A few of us talked over the summer and we thought it would be fun to do something for the teachers, but also for the students, to encourage healthy living,” Frickleton said. “We just thought the fun run at the Pumpkin Festival would be a great incentive and a goal to run toward.”

Frickleton said the students and teachers participating have different levels of experience running.

“We have some kids who have run 5Ks before and some kids who have never run at all,” she said. “We have a few teachers who are distance runners, so they take a group and run up front with them. A few of us are shorter distance runners and then we have some teachers who are just going out for fun and to help monitor the kids.”

One teacher and a couple of the students who have ran in the past are planning on running the Pumpkin Classic 10K, Frickleton added.

Students log their runs in their own individual folders where they can add at-home runs.

“It’s just something to get them thinking about running outside of school as well,” Frickleton said. “Really our main goal was to get them thinking about getting some exercise and getting out of the house and running and just being healthy. We all realized this would be a good way for us to get some exercise and to be good role models for the kids.”

Jones said that by participating in the running club, she has learned the importance of stretching, warming up and cooling down while running.

“Every time we run after school, the teachers tell you your time and you get to see how you’ve improved,” she said.

She added it is “cool” to run with the teachers and that she thinks the students and teachers motivate each other.

“Some teachers are up at the front and you want to try and catch up with them and some are in the back and they like to run with the kids, so they get the motivation to keep up with the kids,” she said.

Jones said she hopes to run the race in under 13 minutes.

The running group met for the past five weeks each Tuesday and Thursday after school for 45 minutes.

Grundy fifth-grade teacher Jill Veskauf said the race date looming on the calendar has helped both students and teachers stick with the running program.