Nike has announced a new partnership with Marathon Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health of children by ‘providing them with the tools, motivation and support to live happier, healthier lifestyles’.
The Marathon Kids programme engages children in a ‘positive, simple, goal-driven running programme’ that challenges them to run the equivalent of up to four marathons (from 26.2 miles to 104.8 miles) over the course of a three-, six- or nine-month running club season or school year.
According to the company, active children work and play better. They score up to 40% higher on tests and are 15% more likely to go to college. They also have increased concentration, better school attendance and behaviour, healthier eating habits and a stronger sense of self than inactive children. Research shows that inactive children are more likely than active children to grow up to be inactive adults, with significant health consequences.
Nike is committed to helping end what it calls a ‘physical inactivity epidemic’ starting with children, by providing early, positive experiences with sport and physical activity. Partnering with Marathon Kids is a step in support of that effort.
Together, Nike and Marathon Kids are hoping to reach over half a million children across the United States in the next two years. Children will learn to embrace running, discover their athletic capabilities and find their love of movement, with the full support of Nike, Marathon Kids and their friends, families and coaches behind them.
“If you have a body, you’re an athlete,” says Jorge Casimiro, Vice President of Nike Global Community Impact. “The biggest takeaway we want the kids to get from this partnership with Marathon Kids is that they’re athletes, too. By helping kids fall in love with sport, we’re helping break the cycle of inactivity.”
Like Nike, Marathon Kids was founded by a runner who experienced firsthand the transformative impact of running. Marathon Kids began in 1995 in Austin, Texas, when the aforementioned runner, inspired by completing her own Runner’s World running log, wanted kids to experience that same inspiration and accomplishment.
In the last year, more than a quarter of a million children aged four to 12 have completed the Marathon Kids programme, achieving incremental milestones to reach 26.2 miles over several months. This year, Nike and Marathon Kids are excited to introduce a new goal, for children to reach the ‘four marathon’, or 104.8-mile mark, over the course of the programme, helping inspire children to ‘dream, and run, big’.
In the nearly two decades since its founding, Marathon Kids has worked with schools, community groups and parents across the United States to support and empower children to get active while having fun, tracking their miles, learning about healthy eating and coming together in a positive social environment.
The first 10 years of life are game-changing in terms of developing healthy habits. Dr. Harold W. Kohl, with The University of Texas Health Science Center of Houston School of Public Health and one of the lead researchers on Marathon Kids’ scientific advisory board, confirms that we, as a culture, are having trouble getting moving. And just as physical inactivity can lead to serious consequences, an active lifestyle early in life has profound effects on overall health and longevity.
“For years, kids have been told to sit down and be quiet,” he says. “Now the realization is that we may actually be hurting kids’ ability to learn and their test scores by making them sit and be quiet and not giving them physical activity breaks or incorporating programmes such as Marathon Kids, and giving these kids the chance to be active.”
In partnering with Marathon Kids to motivate and inspire children on their fitness journey, Nike is hoping to help create a stronger, healthier future. Participants will join Nike’s global community of athletes, receiving special product incentives for achieving marathon milestones. They will also experience personal support and encouragement from the whole team at Nike, including Nike volunteers within local Marathon Kids clubs and families.
“We want to be an intervention that changes the community, and the programme offers kids the opportunity to actually change their entire perception about physical activity and running, in particular,” says Christine Pollei, Marathon Kids’ Executive Director.
“At the conclusion of the lifetime of their programme, kids walk away feeling great, not just about themselves and their achievement, but about running. We love that.”
www.marathonkids.org
www.nike.com
