Grand Rapids Marathon
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Grand Rapids Kids Marathon
The Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon is pleased to continue its efforts to promote health and fitness among the youth in our community by offering children the opportunity, free of charge, to participate in the Grand Rapids Kids Marathon, being sponsored this year by the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. The Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Grand Rapids Kids Marathon is scheduled to take place at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 16, 2010, at the David D. Hunting YMCA. Currently in its fourth year, the Kids Marathon was started in response to a growing need to improve the health and fitness of our youth by promoting healthy lifestyles through increased physical activity and attention to good nutrition.
Sponsors, Community Partners, and Media Partners of the Kids Marathon include Gazelle Sports, Metro Health Sports Medicine, Life EMS, David D. Hunting YMCA, Highland Group, the Grand Rapids Public Library, the Kent District Library, GRKids.com, and TheBigBinder.com.
WHAT IS A "KIDS MARATHON" AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Children register here for free Kids commit to running or walking at least one mile, three times each week, with a friend or family member. Children are encouraged to begin training in mid-August. They track their progress on the logbook form which can be downloaded and printed from this website page. The log goes through mile 25. As the children reach milestones on their log (5, 13, and 20 miles), they are invited to go to any of the Gazelle Sports locations to receive a prize!
By Race Weekend, the children will have covered nearly a marathon distance. They'll run or walk the last 1.2 miles starting at the very same Starting Line as the "big kids" do for the Marathon! On the day of the event, pre-registered runners will receive:
- An official race bib.
- Finishers receive a Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Kids Marathon medal and certificate.
- A Really Cool TShirt.
- Post-race refreshments.
We believe that as a result of training for this event, children will discover the fun of being active and fit, and that they will continue their healthy lifestyles well beyond race weekend, making physical activity and good nutrition a priority in their lives. It is our hope, too, that friends and family members will have fun training with the children and will also benefit by becoming more fit and healthy.
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers will be needed on the day of the event to help with race weekend logistics. We will be updating the Volunteer Page of our website soon to include a link for volunteering for the Kids Marathon. Please check back if you are interested in helping out.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
We continue to offer this event free of charge because of our commitment to bettering the health and fitness of the children in our community. We would be pleased to have local businesses, or organizations that support programs for children, partner with us in order to help underwrite the costs of putting on this event. Sponsorship could be through financial support or donations of water, sports drink, or healthful snacks for the race packets and post-race refreshment area. For more information, please contact:
Francine Robinson
Cell: 616.550-6686
Sunday, October 17, 2010
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