The Connection

“Nice job guys.”

“Don’t forget to tie your shoe buddy, you don’t wanna trip and fall over it.”

Backyard track at Sangster Elementary School was still filled with energy after school despite the chilly weather.

Students from second to the sixth grade–approximately 50 kids--divided into two groups to begin warm-ups to get ready for their running practice of the day.

They are the members of the RunFit Kidz Program. The program teaches young students of all fitness levels about proper running mechanics and importance of nutrition and hydration, as well as posture, speed work and reaction time.

Corky Sturtevant is the founder of RunFit Kidz and one of the coaches in the program. For her, it is not simply about having her students run or having them become good at running. What is more fascinating about the program is that her passion of fitness and living in a healthy lifestyle allows her students to learn beyond running itself.

“I want to give them some knowledge that living in a healthy, active lifestyle is so important,” she said. “I want, as an adult, to give these kids an opportunity. We can be proactive instead of reactive on teaching healthy living.”

EVERY WEEK, seventy-five-minute practice incorporates interesting, creative menus into their training schedules.

What follows after warm-ups are discussions on healthy habits where coaches talk about different health topics, such as hydration, sugar and what a healthy plate looks like, and have their students learn about them. Students also do some activities and games.

Likewise, in what they call “muscle groups,” the students learn about roles of different muscles. For example, they learn about quads and hamstrings this week and then feet and ankles the following week.

After the discussions of the day, the second half of the practice is spent doing the actual run and cool-downs. Sturtevant believes each student is different, so each of them can create their personal goal. In fact, what they call ‘goal run’ is a great opportunity for the students to challenge themselves.

“We call it ‘goal run’ because we give a certain amount of time and you do what you can in that amount of time,” Sturtevant said. “A personal goal – it’s not about being the fastest or doing the most laps, it’s about your personal goal: ‘what can I achieve today?’”

RunFit Kidz is an eight-week program which takes place every fall and spring seasons. This is their ninth season, according to Sturtevant, and this season over 500 students are registered in the program for a total of 23 teams in Virginia. Each team holds either after school or morning training. The team at Sangster Elementary has practice every Wednesday.

THE PROGRAM has 17 coaches who are all national-certified fitness professionals. Most of them have numerous certifications and Sturtevant believes it is important that they are knowledgeable themselves about fitness in order to be able to educate their students.

Almost reaching the eighth week, the RunFit Kidz fall season is about to end. To conclude the season, students from all of the 23 teams get together and run in the Celebration 5K race on Sunday, Nov. 22 at Burke Lake Park. While not every student is required to attend the event, Sturtevant looks forward to seeing her students accomplish their “personal goals.”

“I’m always so excited,” she said. “For us, it’s a non-competitive event so it’s not about who’s gonna finish first. It’s just about all of these kids coming together as one and accomplishing the goal they’ve set for themselves eight weeks… It’s such a huge accomplishment. It just goes to show if you put your mind in something, you can do it. They’re always impressed with themselves. I’m always impressed with them.”

The RunFit Kidz 10th season will start right after spring break in March next year and they are also excited about their first RunFit Kidz Camp planned for the summer. For more information about the RunFit Kidz Program, visit http://www.runfitkidz.com.