Preparing Students for Run Events with Marathon Kids
At Becker Elementary, Coach Megan Vasquez utilizes Marathon Kids for daily running time.
Coach Megan implements Marathon Kids during PE and as an after-school program specifically to prepare her students for Cap10k, a local running race in Austin, Texas.
Vasquez says, “My students love when it's Marathon Kids day and take joy in trying their best whether that is walking and talking with their friends or running as many laps as they can. Marathon Kids has captivated my students and kept them motivated all year long.”
A former collegiate runner herself, Vasquez approaches training systematically. Whether in PE class or after-school run club, she creates an environment for children to become runners. She shifts play into practice and offers a chance for students to compete.
During PE
Like most athletic programs, she begins each session by allowing her students time to warm up and prepare for the mental and physical challenges of what’s to come. She then follows with a presentation of the Marathon Kids dashboard. The dashboard allows students to review individual, class and grade mileage totals, and set personal goals for the day.
She then addresses the leaders in each group and pulls the Grade Leaderboard Report so each student and grade can compete for the top ranking. "I want to be on the leaderboard and it helps me in sports," says 4th grader Connor.
With goals in mind, Vasquez sends her students to the school track for self-paced running.
"It's fun, it helps me be a better athlete and it pays off, " stated 4th grader Hendrix.
To maintain organization, she puts ID cards on bracelets and sets up her iPads on stands, each iPad with a different color case. As students complete their laps, they use their assigned color iPad to scan their ID card as Vasquez monitors and encourages students to meet their own expectations.
After ten minutes of movement, Vasquez covers topics related to her curriculum and offers time to cool down.
During the After-School Program
In the spring, Megan offers an after-school club 2 times a week to train for the Cap 10K race in Austin. Parents volunteer to help monitor and encourage kids as well as help provide a Saturday long run to help train for the big day.
During after-school club, she takes advantage of the Timed Run feature, a tool on the Marathon Kids scanning app that collects lap times. She uses the data to ready her students for Cap 10k and provides an understanding of what they can expect during race day.
Megan times kids' laps to pair up kids to run together during the Cap 10K along with a teacher from the school or a parent. Some kids naturally pair up because they want to run together on race day and during club time.
"The race was super fun. I felt like I could do anything." -4th grader Navy.
Make Marathon Kids Your School's Running Partner