Picking up from yesterday –
It was explained to me that since phys ed teachers are being cut at many schools, teachers of other subjects are stepping up, helping out with this 501(c)(3) charity, and making kids aware (and hopefully care) about healthier lifestyles. I think that’s noble and very cool that teachers of other subjects are giving up their own extra time because they’re passionate about this stuff.
So, what is Marathon Kids? It’s an organization that works with schools. They set up a program so that children track all the mileage they log over the course of some months. The kids also track their eating. Along the way they learn about the benefits of healthy eating and exercising.
Then, there’s this big celebration that we had. The kids make it almost to the end of 26.2 miles (so, a marathon distance) in their logs, saving just the last 1/2 lap on a track to do with us at this event!
The energy at this event was so strong, bouncing throughout over the stadium! It’s funny that I really didn’t realize quite how energetic (and fearless) kids are.
At the beginning of the day, they introduced me to the co-captain at the start line with me, See-Wan. When they explained our job, they said one of us would be at the actual start line making a human chain with other volunteers until we were ready to send that heat of runners.
The other one of us would be off to the side of the track as part of another human chain, keeping the next heat of runners ready and off the track until the start line is ready for them.
I thought start line would be the most fun (and probably most important) of those two jobs, so I offered it to her because she’d volunteered there before. See-Wan was super cool, and a total team player who seemed chill and like she would’ve done either.
At first, we were only assigned enough volunteers to our area to form the human chain at the start line itself. And I was alone in the area to the side of the track. When one of the main volunteer coordinators came to check in on us, she asked me where my human chain was.
I said we didn’t have enough people, but then I stood out, showing how wide my stance could be and I said something like, “I think I can hold back the heats while they’re just waiting.
Bahahahaha. Little did I know how incredibly silly that statement would seem later.
This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.