Students at three Midland, Texas elementary schools have set records for running distances even with the closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, school officials said.
"It's so cool to be able to tell these kids that they are literally No. 1," Pease Communications Academy P.E. Teacher Byron James said on the Midland Independent School District webpage. "We talk about it all the time, but at the end of the day it's really just about creating a healthy lifestyle that they can take with them long after they leave Pease."
The other two area schools whose children have made distance running fame include Ben Milam International Academy and Yarbrough Elementary School.
The school district report said Pease, Ben Milam and Yarbrough are ranked No. 1, 2 and 3, according to a nonprofit fitness program in its 20th year that challenges young people to run based in Austin called “Marathon Kids.”
Students at Pease were credited with running a total of 29,212 miles, more than any school campus in the country. Milam and Yarbrough clocked 28,173 and 25,074 miles.
During P.E. students at Pease had what is titled a “Walking Wednesday” where each student either walked or ran for 20 minutes. Some of the students achieved runs of more than two miles for a single class.
Three additional elementary schools Long, Lamar and Bunch ranked in the top 15 for running nationwide.
James indicated participation in the program is intended to promote youth physical fitness and cut child obesity. He said that once the children start the program they look forward to it each day.
"They really challenge themselves to keep moving," he said. "It's amazing how many of them have really taken to it."
School officials said students continued to run even during times of closing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Even when we were out due to COVID, many students were able to maintain their frequent exercise and log their miles," Midland District P.E. Director Audra Hooker said. "Now that they're back to campus, they've continued the healthy habits."
The goal is for each student to complete the distance of a marathon run of 26.2 miles during the school year.
Playing other sports such as soccer can be counted as credit toward the running goal.
This is the fourth year the students have participated and 12,578 students are enrolled. In total so far this year they have spent 3.5 million minutes exercising accumulating a collective 173,491 miles equal to 6,621 full marathon runs.