Kids get an introduction to running for sport, thanks to Fleet Feet Roanoke's four-week Mini Miler training program.
Lindsey Hull
Warm up exercises
Determined to run, 30 Roanoke Valley youth began training with Fleet Feet Roanoke just after Independence Day. They’ve been at it ever since.
Thirty five to 11-year-olds enrolled in Fleet Feet Roanoke’s four-week Mini Miler training program, which began on July 6. Of those, a majority participated in the program’s final celebration that was held at Patrick Henry High School’s running track on Thursday, July 27.
The program’s goal was to introduce children to running for sport, according to Cameron Baker, Fleet Feet Roanoke’s training coordinator. He explained that many kids begin to run track and field or cross country as part of a school program. Those athletics programs typically begin in grade 6. By that point, kids might be involved in other sports, Baker says.
The Mini Miler program seeks to get kids engaged in the running community from a young age.
Lindsey Hull
Fleet Feet Mini Miler group photo
“The Fleet Feet youth programs provide a safe physical activity, connection to peers, confidence, and a slew of good vibes to the young participants,” Fleet Feet Roanoke owner Matt Thompson wrote in a Facebook message. He hopes to expand youth programming. “Normalizing physical activity and leveraging it as a tool to improve our communities is core to what we do at Fleet Feet Roanoke.”
Mini Miler evenings have consisted of several components: a warm-up, dynamic stretching, technical running stations, and games like balloon relays. Baker says the activities were designed to get kids engaged in running while having fun.
The kids have eagerly participated in the activity stations. Baker did recall that one participant was a little hesitant during the first week. She didn’t want to be timed as she attempted the speed ladder, he said. “That is absolutely okay,” Baker says he told the girl.
“There was another girl in line behind her, and I asked if they wanted to run together,” Baker recalls. The two took off running around the track, according to Baker. The next week, he saw them hanging out together.
“Being the fastest doesn’t matter as much as making friends,” Baker says.
Participants arriving at Thursday’s event mostly sat in the shade, waiting for the activities to begin. At 6 p.m., Baker called the group together and described his plan for the evening.
With highs in the 90s, Baker’s goal was to give each runner a chance to properly recover between active stations. He carefully planned according to Virginia High School athletics regulations, offering plenty of cold water, cold towels, and a shortened workout.
The runners were going to try trail running for the first time, Baker says. He planned for them to run on the nearby Murray Run greenway before returning to participate in a balloon relay.
Lindsey Hull
Trail run led by Cameron Baker
“I want the kids to have a chance to breathe between the different stations,” he says.
Despite the heat, parents were eager to watch their children participate. Some walked the trail with their children. Others stood along the track’s tree-lined chain link fence, watching their children from the shade.
Roanoke City resident Kim Tulou had enrolled her two youngest children, Christophe and Maggie, in this year’s Mini Miles training program. Her older daughter has participated in previous years, she said.
“Our kids love to run and we want to encourage that,” she says. Her son, Christophe, has participated in the program previously. Tolou and her three children also frequently participate in Fleet Feet’s Tuesday night pub runs.
“I like feeling the sense of accomplishment when I’m done,” Christophe Tolou says.
One longtime Fleet Feet runner, Michelle Laprad, enrolled her five-year-old son Ronin in the program this year, Baker said. “[Her son] has had the biggest blast getting out there,” he says.
“I like to run, so I’m hoping that maybe he’ll like to run, too,” Laprad says.
Jeannie Wilde is a fellow Fleet Feet runner and a volunteer Mini Miler coach. She enjoys encouraging children to be active. “Maybe if I had done something like this when I was their age, I wouldn't have waited until I was 46 to start running,” she says.
“It takes a village. We want to be one more resource that contributes to the development of community youth,” Thompson writes.