news-record.com

From a news release:

HIGH POINT — The runners’ goals sound familiar enough: They want to get healthy, run fast, finish the race and earn a medal. But most of the 950-plus registrants who will toe the line for the GO FAR 5k on Saturday, November 14, aren’t your average road-race participants. As elementary students, the youth have been training since September with their physical education teachers. Many of the students will run or walk the 3.1-mile race as their first athletic endeavor.

As concerns about the prevalence of childhood obesity and its related health complications grow, the GO FAR program offers a tangible, low-cost solution: teach kids to enjoy an activity that requires only sneakers and the great outdoors. The rewards, along with improved fitness, include the satisfaction of meeting a goal and crossing the finish line.

The nonprofit GO FAR—Go Out For A Run—based in High Point, NC, has offered the fitness program since 2003, when physician assistant Robin Lindsay created the ten-week curriculum in consultation with teachers, nutritionists, and other health professionals. Students at nearly 30 schools throughout the Triad now attend after-school GO FAR sessions twice a week to learn about healthy eating and character skills as well as to train for the race. Physical education teachers voluntarily lead the afternoon “club” sessions.

“Our elementary physical education specialists truly care about their students, the communities they serve, and their schools,” says Sharon Parks, the K-12 physical education and health curriculum specialist for Guilford County Schools. “Thank you to all the PE specialists who volunteer their time and energy in promoting healthy behaviors and sharing the fun in fitness with their students. And kudos to Robin for her tireless efforts in promoting fitness in youth!“

With more than 950 registered runners, the fall 2009 event is the largest GO FAR race to date. The starting gun goes off at 9 a.m. from Advanced Home Care, 4001 Piedmont Parkway (off Rt. 68), High Point, NC.