San Angelo Kids Enjoy Healthy Exercise at 6th Annual Kid's Marathon

The 6^th annual Kid’s Marathon, sponsored by Shannon Medical Center, brought children from across San Angelo and encouraged active participation in various events at the San Angelo Sports Stadium Thursday evening.

The first event consisted of all the children who had registered for the free race to run one time around the track. Races then continued in 15-minute increments and was open to parents and anyone else who was willing to participate.

Children received medals for finishing the race and also received a free water bottle. They also received a t-shirt that they could have signed by local athletes from ASU who were present at the event.

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September Summers, coordinator for the event, said, “The whole motto of this event is a hooray for physical activity.”

These activities allowed for not only the children to have fun, but also the parents and athletes present as well. Ram Football and Baseball were there representing ASU, with the Rambelles Soccer and Volleyball teams also participating. All athletic groups helped motivate the children who were running the track, and also played soccer, tug-of-war, and other sports-related activities with them.

London Dial, with Ram Football said, “It’s really exciting to get out here and to show everybody that it’s good to get out and have fun, and to run around and play instead of being locked inside.”

Dial shared his experience of wanting to go outside and play when he was growing because his generation didn’t have as much access to technology as kids of today do.

“It was much more fun to go outside than to sit inside, so it’s great we are endorsing to get outside and play like this,” Dial said.

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Summers mentioned that the athletes act as mentors to the kids. They represent a healthy and active lifestyle that can encourage the children to live the same way.  

“What we want is to encourage the kids to stay in school, go to school, and to do their homework,” Summers said. She compared being in elementary school to that of participating in a marathon. It consists of behaving and doing your homework, but also getting to participate in a sport after school that can bring enjoyment and feelings of accomplishment to the students.

Since January, the local schools have been participating in running events on Fridays that have accumulated to a total of 26 miles. The children got to run the last lap at this event to represent finishing their goal, Summers mentioned.   

“It’s a marathon journey to healthy habits,” Summers said.

Shannon Medical Center has hosted this event annually, and many organizations in the community also support the marathon. Since starting out, there has been an increase in children participation from the first hundred who attended in 2010 to numbers as high as 600 in 2015.