When Courtney Jackson brought Marathon Kids to L.A. Ainger Middle School, she wasn’t starting from scratch-she was bringing a proven belief: every kid can grow, improve, and feel proud of what they accomplish.
Now, that belief is showing up in a big way.
With over 750 active runners, students at Ainger have collectively logged 98,000+ miles and completed 3,700+ marathons, earning the school the #1 spot on the national Marathon Kids leaderboard. But the real story isn’t just in the numbers-it’s in the culture.
Marathon Kids is embedded throughout the school day. Every PE class-across 6th, 7th, and 8th grades-includes movement tracking during warm-ups, activity time, and cool-down. The program extends beyond PE into intramurals like basketball, track, and weightlifting, creating a unified, school-wide movement culture. Even special events, like a color run and partnerships with the American Heart Association’s Run for Your Heart, count toward students’ progress.
And students are all in.
Each month, Coach Jackson and her two co-workers project the Marathon Kids dashboard for the entire school to see. Students track their progress by class, grade level, and individually. Leaderboards are celebrated out loud-names announced, applause filling the room. The data isn’t just numbers-it’s motivation, accountability, and pride.
That culture of celebration is helping students see themselves differently.
Take one of her 6th-grade students, for example, a student who started the year unsure of himself as a runner. His early experience with running was harder than he thought, and he was discouraged. But with encouragement from Coach Jackson-reminding him to focus on being the best version of himself-he kept showing up.
Over time, his endurance improved. His confidence followed.
Recently, his name was announced as second in his class. As his peers cheered, He lit up-beaming with pride, now seeing himself as someone who can.
Beyond the individual story, Marathon Kids has transformed the entire school community. By combining intramurals and run club into one unified effort, Ainger has built a team-first environment where participation is the norm and movement is celebrated.
And the momentum is still building.
If the school maintains its top national ranking, students will celebrate with a school-wide glow party-a high-energy reward that has everyone motivated to keep moving, keep tracking, and keep pushing toward their goals.
For Coach Jackson, the success goes beyond her own campus. A passionate advocate, she has presented to her district and helped expand Marathon Kids to other schools-bringing this same energy, structure, and belief to more students across Charlotte County Schools.
Because at Ainger Middle School, Marathon Kids isn’t just a program.
It’s a culture where students learn to set goals, track progress, support each other-and most importantly, believe they can.
