Students at Osage Elementary School are running their way into a fit and healthy lifestyle. The Running Club at Osage began in 2003, but for the first time this year, the students participated in a running event.
According to health and physical education teacher and club organizer Christine Farrell, more than 10 Osage students ran in the 8th annual Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K event, participating in the 5K, quarter mile and 100-meter events on Saturday, March 16.
Farrell said the students have never participated in an event before, but she hopes they will continue to participate in races like the one in Haddonfield.
On a normal day, the students who are a part of the club run at recess and in gym class. Every student who enters Osage is signed up for the club through the physical education program. Students who wish to participate are given the opportunity to set their own mileage goals and are given mileage tracker foot cards.
Farrell said every time a student runs four miles on the school track, he or she gets a foot token that could be hung on a necklace. Students’ mileages are also recorded on their individual foot cards, she said.
The main goal of the Running Club is to promote fitness and health, as well as help build confidence.
Farrell said she hopes the running event encouraged them to continue to run in races. After running a half marathon in September, Farrell said she wanted the kids to experience the same accomplishment she did when she completed the race.
“I realized the rewards of running in an event and how good it feels personally. I wanted the kids to experience that,” she said, adding when she started teaching at Osage approximately 10 years ago, she wanted to continue the Running Club.
According to the American Heart Association, increased physical activity can lead to an improvement in self-confidence and self-esteem, reduce time spent watching television or playing video games, as well as decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Farrell said there is more to exercise than cardiovascular health. She said it teaches students goals and how to be successful as well.
Having the Running Club at Osage helps the physical education staff make sure children are getting some form of exercise, whether in gym, recess or at home.
Farrell said sometimes it is difficult to monitor the children at recess, but said there are teachers in the school who volunteer for the Running Club to monitor the children then.
“It couldn’t be done without that,” Farrell said.
When the children leave school, Farrell said it is up to students to continue physical fitness. Some of the students participate in organized athletics, but, for the ones who are not involved in sports, running during the school hours might help improve their fitness.
“I don’t know honestly what the kids do when they leave here, but what we are trying to do is instill in them a sense of self-responsibility for their own fitness for life,” Farrell said.
On top of allowing the students to set running goals, nutrition is taught in the health classes.
“We take a combined approach of balanced fitness, nutrition and social aspects to keep their life balanced. That’s really how we approach health and fitness,” she said, adding she wanted the students to bring back what they learned to their families and share their accomplishments with others.
Students brought their parents and sibling with them to run at the Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K event. Farrell said she was overjoyed to see the response from the Running Club.
“I welled up inside Saturday with tears of joy because hanging the medals around their necks as they finished at that finish line brought such joy. It’s like I have come full circle in wanting them to be fit, teach fitness, live fitness and have them share it. The experience was shared,” she said.
Running is something everyone can do. Farrell said she would continue on with the Running Club and hopes to get the students, their families and friends to participate in more running events.
She said she would continue to help kids find their own way of keeping fit, even if it means walking around the track at Osage to earn mileage points.
“Be active and get moving in any way that you find joy,” she said.
