Third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in the Running Club at Jefferson Elementary School prepare for a relay race as part of the group¹s warm-up activity in the school¹s gymnasium. Source photo by Deanna Rose

“I like running,” she said.

Laga isn’t part of the track team or the cross-country team; she belongs to the Jefferson Running Club, an after-school program created to give students the opportunity to learn about what it takes to become student athletes.

Jefferson Principal Jennifer Davis started the club three years ago, with only girls, as part of the “Girls on the Run” curriculum. However, she noticed boys were expressing an interest in running and she wanted to include them in the group as well. Since Davis could only find one other program to use for the co-ed class, she designed her own specific 12-week plan and used that to form the spring running club at her school.

The group usually begins around spring break, but it began in February this year. Students signed up for the program and paid a $10 participation fee - which includes a snack each week and a Jefferson Running Club T-shirt.

“They come every time,” Davis said. “We ended up having to turn kids away because they just love (the running club) so much.”

Students spend an hour and 15 minutes in the school gymnasium each week for the running club. At the start of each meeting, the children are given a healthy snack to munch on while going over the week’s nutrition lesson. At the April 14 session, students learned about portion control, and how many calories and fat are in certain foods.

“I like learning about having healthy snacks and how to get my body healthy,” Laga said.

After the learning segment of the group, the youngsters spend some time on an activity, like relay races. Then, the practicing athletes line up for basic stretches to warm up their muscles before beginning to run.

“I’m learning new stretches and new games,” Jefferson Running Club fourth-grader Mark Ivezha said.

When the weather is warm enough to venture out from the gym, the group heads out to the park next to the school to start logging the amount of miles they’re running.

On April 5, 11 club members participated in the Dearborn Martian Marathon, along with Davis. Even though the marathon was 26.2 miles of running, the students had accumulated enough miles by running during the after-school club that they only had to run one mile to finish the marathon.

“It’s amazing,” Davis said. “You give the kids an opportunity and they just love it.”