"We Run This City" Marathon Program
The "We Run This City" marathon program has been around for eight years now. This year, 11 sixth graders from Forest Park Middle School pioneered the program for Euclid. We trained twice a week for 12 weeks to run 1.2 miles without stopping. Of course there are varying levels of runners, but by the end all 11 of my students were able to run the whole thing without stopping.
The day of the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon, we joined all the other CMSD schools at Cleveland State. On this day, students receive their free Nike running shoes and a T-shirt so the student runners stand out on the race course. We then joined the last 1.2 mile of the course with real adult marathon runners and crossed the finish line at Browns stadium. Students also received a real marathon medal.
It is a great experience for anyone! The atmosphere Downtown is so positive and inspirational, even if you are just a spectator cheering the runners on. I had wonderful parent support, the best I've ever had. This showed not only on the day of the race when they came down to see their children, but through the dedication of the students who came to all the practices and got better every week.
My goal, and the goal of the program, is to inspire the students to stay healthy through exercise. Some of my runners have already told me that they are signed up for a 5K (3.1 mile run) over the summer! And anyone who returns next year has the opportunity to run the 10K (6.2 miles) or even the half marathon.
Audrey R. Holtzman
Community Relations Specialist for the Euclid City Schools.