Through the simple act of running, however, teachers at St. Christopher Elementary School in Lorne Park have created a kinder, friendlier atmosphere.
More than 80 students of all shapes, sizes and ages have turned out to participate in this year’s MaraFun.
Introduced two years ago as part of Mississauga Marathon weekend, the MaraFun calls on children to run or walk 40 kilometres over a six-week period leading up to marathon weekend, which this year falls on May 10-11. Then, on race weekend, participants finish the marathon distance by completing the final two kilometres of the challenge on the actual marathon route to the cheers of thousands of spectators.
St. Cecilia Elementary School had the most children entered in last year’s festivities.
This year, parent Theresa Redmond approached teacher Helen Ohori at St. Christopher and things snowballed from there.
“We had a representative (runner) from the marathon speak to the students,” said Ohori. “We then reached out to the kids to see if there was enough interest in it.”
MaraFun is open to grades 1 through 8 students. Ohori was taken aback by the interest from “children as young as six who are running 1.5 kilometres a day.
“Most of them have never run on a consistent basis before, other than when they were just playing.”
Ohori and principal Louise Hughes proudly looked on as students went through their paces Thursday morning, the youngsters dropping popsicle sticks into a bucket each time they completed a lap.
A by-product of the initiative, said Hughes, is the camaraderie that has developed among participants.
“The other day, (non-participating) students lined up and were cheering the runners,” said Hughes. “They look upon each other as teammates.”
Three weeks away from marathon weekend, the children have amassed 11 of the required 40 kilometres.
Students Ivan Mutnica, Gabby Gigone, Siobhan Birch and Olivia Ohori have as many reasons for running as the number of kilometres they'll eventually complete.
“It’s not video games,” said Mutnica, who'll form a relay team with Oscar Lipa, Addison Bertrand and Sebastian Lebiedzinski during marathon weekend.
“I’ve been running for five years. The more you run, the better you look and the more girls you get,” joked the 13-year-old.
Gigone said running “helps me get stronger,” and Birch added that running “is simple.”
Olivia Ohori chimed in, “it’s fun running with my friends. It’s a good way to be active.”
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