The MarathonKids Final Mile
Our Final Mile event takes place this Friday afternoon the 24th November in the park next to the school. I hope you can come along.
What is it all about?
MarathonKids is organised in conjunction with Fingal County Council and is a new initiative designed to get children active. The MarathonKids initiative seeks to encourage fitness, educate young people on the benefits of sport and promote an increase in activity levels in the early teenage population.
What’s involved?
The MarathonKids programme is an 8 week journey that involves students running the 26.2 miles.
We piloted this programme last year with one class from 5th and one from 6th taking part. This year, all pupils in all 5th and 6th classes went running 4 times per week in school, starting with shorter distances of 600m and increasing the distance each week.
How are we getting on?
Fantastically well! The children have now built up their stamina, as we enter the final week of the programme. We started off with 600m in week one, 800m in week two, and now kids are running 1.8 km per day. It is brilliant to see children, some of whom have had little experience of running, taking part and building up their resilience.
Education Pack
The programme is supported by a comprehensive in-school teacher pack, where topics such as heart health, nutrition, hydration, physical well-being are explored with the children.
Final Mile Event
The program ends with the Final Mile event. It will be staged on our Mary, Mother of Hope campus, in the Park at Hunter’s Run. It will take place on Friday the 24th November.
What will happen on the day?
All 240 pupils in 5th and 6th classes from our school and their teachers will run the final mile at this event, regardless of the weather! If the weather is favourable, we will have the children in 3rd and 4th classes cheering them on.
All the children who have taken part in the Marathon Kids programme will receive a medal and t-shirt.
Parents invited to join in the celebration
Central to the success of the programme is parental support. All parents are invited to come along on the afternoon to support the children. We hope that the event will commence at 1:30pm, so spectators are asked to be in position for 1:15pm.
