How Parents Can Prepare Their Kids For Socially Distant Fitness

Episode Transcript

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

Hi everyone, welcome to the show, I am Dr. Nicole, and on today’s episode, we’re talking about how to get kids moving and engaging in physical activity that their brains and bodies need, especially during this time of continued social distancing, online school, all of these things that we’ve got going on. We know that movement and exercise are critical for supporting learning, focus, mood, stress level, and behavior in kids and for us as adults too. One of the things that we’ve been seeing over the past many months of this pandemic is that kids are even more sedentary than they were before, and this is not a good thing. Now that some kids are back in school in person, there may be some restrictions on PE classes, recess, certainly sports participation and other kinds of physical outlets — and kids doing school online are also missing out on these opportunities. So how can we as parents prepare our kids for socially distant fitness and get them moving in healthy ways again?

My guest today is Cami Hawkins from Marathon Kids and she’s going to provide some answers and strategies for us. Let me tell you a bit about her. Cami is a healthcare professional, philanthropist, fitness enthusiast, volunteer, and mom, and she is with Marathon Kids as the Chief Executive Officer. Cami joined Marathon Kids with more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, ranging a business owner to a CEO to a consultant. She is a proud Texas Longhorn with a BA in economics from the University of Texas, Austin and a masters in Health Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, and she is married and has two children, former Marathon Kids, now in college. Cami, welcome to the show, thanks for being here!

Cami Hawkins:

Thank you so much for having me. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

So you and I were talking before we officially started the recording for this episode about just how crazy the last several months have been and with kids and school and how it has impacted their health, and I’m really excited to have this conversation because this is more needed than ever before for what’s going on, and what it seems like it’s going to continue to go on at least here for the foreseeable future. So let’s dive in. I want to start with you, you have an impressive and varied background of lots of different things within healthcare. I’d love to hear the story of how you landed in an organization that’s focused on getting kids physically active. 

Cami Hawkins: 

It’s just a blessing and I feel so fortunate to be where I am. Like you said, I’ve been in the healthcare industry for years. I’ve worked on all sides of the industry, in hospitals, in multidisciplinary clinics, as a consultant for GE healthcare — so my entire life, just working towards creating healthcare systems that help people. I got to that point in my life where I really wanted to focus more on the nonprofit world, and if I could do something that would allow me to meet those passions that I have for kids and help in a new and different way. And I must add, I was a little tired of the travel schedule that goes along with healthcare consulting. So I found the opportunity for marathon kids, and again, just a blessing for me — I had lived here in Austin, I had known about Marathon Kids since it began, my kids were marathon kids, like you said. So whenI saw the opportunity, I had to just throw my hat in the ring. I was fortunate enough that the board felt like I had what it took. They were interested in my private sector experience and what that might bring to a non-profit. So now I have been with them for years and it just has been a very exciting and very fast-paced growth opportunity for me. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

It’s awesome, and I know that Marathon Kids has really been pivoting a lot in the last several months to look at how we can support kids and families and keep doing what we’re doing now in even a more virtual way. We’re going to get into more about Marathon Kids as we go through the conversation, but for people who aren’t aware, can you just give us a brief description of what Marathon Kids is? What do you all do and why do you exist?

Cami Hawkins: 

Sure. So we have been around, like I said, for 25 years and the reason we exist is because the founder just recognized the real need and importance and opportunity that there was for kids when they’re exposed to an early positive physical activity experience — what that can do for them in the long term. So how physical activity — and I know we’re going to get into this a little bit more, impacts their entire wellbeing of who they are and how they feel about themselves, and what that allows them to accomplish in so many different areas. And like you said, the beauty of Marathon Kids is that we have been able to evolve over the years to meet kids where they are now. So in this new technologically-driven environment, we saw the need to kind of pivot and move into this digital world and over this lap-tracking system so the kids could engage at a level that they are happy with and feel good about. And so that’s the way we move forward. 

The program itself really challenges kids to run the equivalent of four marathons over the course of a school year. I know that sounds scary to people, 104.8 miles, but it’s a tiny, little bit at a time. Quarter mile, half mile, mile at a time. They add those miles up so they reach that big goal of 104.8 miles. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

It’s an amazing platform, it’s an amazing project because the sense of satisfaction that kids get — I mean what kid doesn’t want to say “I walked and ran the equivalent of four marathons this school year!”, right? It’s such a cool concept, and as you said, it lets kids do this one small step at a time. And what I love about that is that it’s so applicable to any child, really, of any ability level. You can walk, you can jog, you can run — even those who maybe are in a wheelchair or things like that, somebody can walk with them. There are all kinds of opportunities for kids of every level of need to participate and benefit from this, which I think is really awesome. 

Cami Hawkins: 

I couldn’t agree with you more. And we say, too, that it’s not just walking, running or jogging. We can also translate any kind of physical activity into miles or minutes of physical activity for these kids. So whether it’s a dance-a-thon in front of a video or jump rope or skipping or games — we want kids to be able to understand that that physical activity, whatever it is can translate into this goal that they have set for themselves, and every little bit, every little increment gets them closer and closer to that success mark. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

I love it. So you mentioned, and I’ve mentioned now about the importance of physical activity for kids, and I think this just can not be overstated, although it is often overlooked by people, ho vitally important physical activity is, so let’s dive into what the physical and mental health benefits of regular exercise for kids are.

Cami Hawkins: 

Sure. So we like to tell people that every child, it’s recommended that they get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. That’s the minimum requirement. And pre-pandemic, we were only reaching 1 out of 5 kids that was getting the minimum amount of physical activity a day. So we’re already in, like you said, that inactivity crisis in this country. Now with the pandemic, we’ve seen, again, more restrictions, more sedentary lifestyles, less activity. And the overarching, extenuating circumstances of not being active: Increased stress, increased anxiety, increased depression, increased obesity. The list goes on and on. So the importance of physical activity for children and for anyone of any age is not only for their physical health, which is astronomically important, but also for their mental, social, emotional wellbeing. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

Absolutely. I would add on to those statistics just by sharing for everybody listening, many of you have a child maybe with a diagnosed special need or with some developmental or mental health kinds of challenges — what the statistics show for kids and as they grow into adulthood with those kinds of special needs is that they even have worse outcomes when it comes to physical activity, opportunities for movement and how that impacts their physical and mental health. And so whether we’re talking about things like down syndrome, autism or ADHD, anxiety, learning disabilities — all of those things, we want to be especially focused on how we can provide opportunities to include these populations of kids and adults in meaningful physical activity, because I would argue that it’s even more important from the standpoint of development and physical and mental health for those populations to have access to that and what we’re seeing is that in general, those populations don’t. So I think that this is an especially important topic for our families who are raising kids with some kind of special needs. 

Cami Hawkins: 

I agree wholeheartedly, and I had shared with you a little story about one of the kids of one of our staff members, who had been diagnosed with ADHD and she specifically took on advocating for her child in school and asking that they use physical activity as an outlet during the school day to allow her child to process everything that was going on. I mean the change was almost immediate. And again, this is not big physical activity, long stretches of time — we’re talking 5, 10, 15-minute breaks and being able to get that physical activity released. Release those endorphins. It lights the brain up, it gets the child more ready to learn, or any person. It doesn’t have to just be a child. Lights their brain up, they’re ready to learn, they’re more capable of controlling those emotions and behaviors. It’s just an incredible tool to use for any of those populations that you just mentioned. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

Absolutely, and so important, especially now as we are in a situation where many kids are still doing their education online, they’re not going into school buildings or they’re doing that may be at least part-time. And parents are struggling with how to help their children stay focused and attentive and learning and doing the things that they’re supposed to be doing online, and movement can play an important role in that, right?

Cami Hawkins:

100%. And like you said, we are in an environment now where there is no standard, right? so many districts, so many schools are doing a million different things to try to just achieve that education process, the academics of this. So we are concerned as Marathon Kids, and I know PE teachers all over the country are concerned about physical activity being reprioritized in this new environment. So we are working every day to try to help parents, teachers, educators understand why it is they can continue to build physical activity into that school day, whatever that school day might look like now. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

I love that. Let’s talk about some easy ways that you are communicating to families to make sure that kids are staying physical when they are learning remotely. What are some things that parents can build into the day, or how can they do this?

Cami Hawkins: 

Well, I would touch on two things. First I would say that Marathon Kids was somewhat in a fortunate position when the pandemic happened. We were in the midst of developing our new Marathon Kids application, which is a web-based platform and mobile application that allows our coaches and teachers to track kids’ mileage digitally. So we print a QR code, we scan those codes as they run around tracks that have been defined, then they add those miles to their marathon kids goal. Because we were in development at the time that the pandemic started and we immediately saw schools closing and the need for parents to have tools and resources at home, we built in a few features that now allows our clubs, once they are on board, that parents can now access that child’s account and they can keep that kid moving and working towards that goal and achieving those goals in a fun way with Marathon Kids. 

I would also say, without Marathon Kids, what parents can do is just ensure that they take those breaks, that those kids have time to take those breaks in their school day, and be physically active. And we know that parents are the first role models for their child, and whatever that looks like, we know that physical activity is good for us as adults, so our suggestion is: If you can, take those breaks with your child. And therefore, they’re seeing you role model the physical activity and the importance of it, they’re gaining the minutes that they need to be physically active, turns everybody’s brains back on, as they go back to sit in front of a computer. Hopefully, we can reach parents that way, just really, things like this, just providing the exposure and the knowledge to parents that it’s important every single day and that those little breaks make huge differences. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

Absolutely, and I love the focus on parents and kids who can do these things together. Because kids, especially if they’re of younger ages, somebody is home with them, somebody is there with them, supervising their learning and sort of taking these breaks together. If you’re at home working as a parent, sitting in front of the computer, you can benefit too from these movements and brain breaks. So taking the 5-minute break with your child to go outside and run around the driveway or ride bikes for a few minutes or do some jumping jacks or simple kinds of things, really important, but I think that focus on togetherness because that model, as you said, is really important — kids will do what they see us doing, right? 

Cami Hawkins:

Absolutely. And that’s another thing at Marathon Kids, we’ve always been an evidence-based program. So we believe in science, and we pride ourselves on building on 6 -pillars of long-term behavior adoption, and role modeling is one of those pillars, and it is absolutely of key importance. Whether it’s the parent, a teacher, some other adult that has an impact on a child’s life, that is long-term behavior adoption: You do what you see. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

Absolutely. You do what you see. It’s so true. We can tell kids all we want: Close the device, go out and get some fresh air and run around, do this, do that — but if they see us doing it, they’re much more likely to do that, yeah. 

Cami Hawkins: 

Yeah, and I’d add one more thing: We have seen an incredible kind of reverse engineering of that role modeling too. We see sometimes that our kids get exposed to Marathon Kids in the classroom, and then they take it home to the family and are then pushing their parents and their siblings and whoever else is there to say I have to do this for my school, and then that encourages the parents and the other kids to get involved with them. So that’s a really cool kind of reverse role model that we’ve seen success with as well. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens: 

Oh, that’s fantastic, and what a sense of pride then, in the child too, of “I’m doing this and I’m getting my family to do this.” That’s fantastic. One of the things I’m recommending to families because this has come up a lot here in Michigan in the area where my clinic is located, kids have been back to school now for about two weeks, so lots of questions and things that we’re navigating with people, but one of the things that I’m encouraging parents to do, particularly if you have a child with some special needs or with an IEP or a 504 plan or some kind of specialized plan or services that they get — if your child’s teacher, if the way that the virtual schooling is set up is not allowing for or automatically providing enough of these opportunities for movement and breaks throughout the day, talk to your child’s case manager, talk to the teacher, find ways to work that in, let them know how important that is: “Hey, I’m sitting here with my child and this expectation of 3 hours at a time of sitting in front of the computer is not working. We’re going to need to take more breaks, here is how I’m going to do that.” And I’m really encouraging parents to take the bull by the horns with that and to say “We’re going to do what’s workable for us. My child is going to need a break every half an hour or every hour, every 15 minutes or whatever it’s going to be, and I’m really trying to empower parents to do what is going to be best for their child’s brain and body and to make this work in the best way possible. 

Cami Hawkins:

I totally agree, we are encouraging the same thing. Again, similar to you. In Austin, we haven’t started back to school yet but we have been working closely with the district to talk about what PE looks like. But not only what it looks like, but what that physical activity piece looks like in a child’s day. So our kids in Austin are only going to be getting PE — this is elementary school, PE one day a week for 45 minutes, in front of a Zoom. And they obviously have their educational curriculum that they have to cover. So we’re really encouraging that connection through Marathon Kids. And I would share with your parents and families and communities that now that the program is free and open and they have access to the digital lap tracker, if they can find a champion at their school to register and create the club, then it puts the power back into the hands of the parents to do that physical activity with their kids. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Absolutely and provides a way to track that too, because sometimes, I think, schools’ concerns are, “Well, is this really happening? What’s going on?” And this provides a great way of having some accountability for that, for the child, for the family, for everybody, which is great.

Cami Hawkins:

Yeah, I agree again! We have seen in many, many districts, sites have these mandated minutes of physical activity during the school day, but primarily it’s kind of a check-the-box requirement. Are they getting it, yes or no? Are they getting most of it? And it’s really just to check the box. And what we’re seeing in some of our district partners is that this now can be a real accountability tool for teachers, parents, and the district to be able to roll up and say we absolutely are meeting the minutes by every single child that we have enrolled in this program. Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Yeah. And I love — I want to go back to that story that you shared towards the beginning about your staff member with the child with ADHD and how they incorporated the Marathon Kids into the plan and the school day for that child with the movement, and you have mentioned that they worked that in with the counselor, correct? To do that. Can you talk a little bit more about that because I want parents to start to get their wheels turning for how they could incorporate a program like this into the school day, whether it’s in the brick and mortar school or in the home, how they can work with their child’s team, at school to really include this as a component of their child’s day. 

Cami Hawkins:

So I mean obviously because she was a staff member, she totally understood the research and science and everything behind what Marathon Kids could do. So she was already armed with a lot of information for that counselor. I hope I’m telling the story correctly, but I believe the child had a 504 designation, so within that designation in the school district, the child met with the counselor for a period of time every single day. They had a daily meeting. And so what the parent requested was that during that time, could they meet outside in a walking environment? Could they allow for a couple of laps around the track? Allow her to run around the track a couple of times and use that — use Marathon Kids, the tracking of the goals, and that counseling time as a workout. And they were really concerned — if I remember correctly, I believe the child was in the 4th grade, and there was concern around testing and being able to sit for that test, and take the test and stay focused so they could get through the process of the testing. And by using Marathon Kids as that break, they saw almost immediate improvement in their ability to sit and focus for a period of time. And then because of the 504 designation, they were actually able to build a physical activity to break into the test time. So that allowed the child to take a break, come back to the test in the right environment, and to sit and do their best, and they scored phenomenally well. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

That’s the powerful impact that movement can have. It’s literally in the moment. You don’t need to wait weeks and months to see the benefits of it, you see the shifts in kids’ ability to focus and to think and to manage themselves literally right after you do that, which is so powerful. 

Cami Hawkins:

Yes, and I would just add too: We’ve had a lot of focus in education on social and emotional wellbeing and there are the SEL core competencies. So we have been able to parallel Marathon Kids to the SEL core competencies, so that’s another opportunity for parents to incorporate something like Marathon Kids under a social, emotional learning component into the school system. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

That’s so important and powerful because one of the obstacles that parents of kids with special needs often run up against is trying to get school administrators and schools to get on board with these things because of exactly these issues. “Well, it doesn’t fit with our required goals.” So the fact that you all had done the work of looking at how to integrate this program in with what schools are doing and what the requirements are, that’s an amazing thing for parents than to have all of that built into the program when they go and talk to their school to say, “Look, this is evidence-based, this does meet the targets that you are required to aim for with social and emotional learning with all of these pieces.” It’s really wonderful. 

Cami Hawkins:

Yes, and I would even go one step further. One other thing that we encourage parents to discuss with their teachers and administrators is the fact that physical activity has tracked positively correlating to not only an improved academic performance, improved behavioral performance — so less referrals or sends to the principal’s office and incidents, but also increased attendance. So school districts are paid, they get their state funding based on attendance. So through Marathon Kids or through physical activity programs, if we can increase attendance, we’re literally increasing the bottom line for that school or that school district. So it’s just amazing. It’s also — the pendulum swings back and forth. So I think the pendulum has swung towards teaching to the test and the academics, and they reprioritized physical activity, which is a negative enforcing self-fulfilling prophecy of not providing good academic performance. So now we’re hopefully seeing the shift back towards that balanced day of learning, physical activity, using what our bodies can do to achieve that highest level of potential. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Absolutely, and empowering parents to pursue these changes with school. Sometimes, for the pendulum to swing back, it’s not going to come from within the system. It needs to come from those of us outside the system, from parents saying “This is important to us for the academic development, social development, earning development of our kids.” And so to empower parents with that information, I think is critical. Let’s talk a bit about the issue of social distancing and physical activity because I’m sure this is on parents’ minds as they are thinking about this, and again, restrictions and requirements are different depending on where people live, but in general, most of us are still in situations where social distancing is required. So what are some things to keep in mind for safe distancing practices when kids are exercising outside or at home?

Cami Hawkins:

So there have been tons of articles already published that shape America. All the active school programs, even Marathon Kids — we are writing all the time about how you can manage a PE class in a safe, socially distanced environment. And the same thing that everybody has heard: It’s maintaining that 6-feet distance between participants. So whether that’s setting up a yoga mat in a gym that is 6 feet apart in whichever directions, and then doing activities that you can do right there in place: High knees, heel to bottom, jumping jacks — anything that can be done in that 6-foot place, you can do 5-10 minutes thereby yourselves and create that PE environment in a safe way. Also, Marathon Kids, again, the simplicity of it is the beauty of it, and running and walking — the perfect environment to space yourselves out. So we’re just showing teachers how to set up a run club where kids move in safe distances starting at a staggering pace or spreading out across a track and keeping pace with your little group across a track. So there are several ways where they can get in and do it safely and easily. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Awesome. That’s great. You know, at home, some people may be thinking, well we’ve got neighborhood kids and things, we’re taking a lot of those same ideas. You can get kids together to do things just looking at how you can keep that space, but what I love about the Marathon Kids’ approach is, as you said, it’s easy for families to do together too in whatever ways make sense. You don’t have to worry about the social distance and the masks and all of that because you’re doing it with your siblings or with your parents or whatever, which is great. 

Cami Hawkins:

Right. And we even have a little video that we created, you can find it on our website if you go to marathonkids.org/covid-19, it’ll take you to a little video that shows how to run a PE class and do Marathon Kids in a safe, socially distanced way. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Awesome, which is great for PE classes for school, but also great for other kinds of extracurricular activities for youth groups or anybody who is looking at how we can safely do these things and keep kids moving right now, that’s awesome. How about — I can imagine that there are some parents thinking, “Okay, I get that this movement is important, I’m on board with this, I’m realizing I need to get my kids moving more, but let’s be honest, the reality is they’ve been doing a whole lot of sitting around now for several months.” What kinds of tips do you have for how parents can ease kids, perhaps, back into physical activity. 

Cami Hawkins:

We love to say, at Marathon Kids, “Kids were made to play.” And play typically means that they are being physically active. IF they haven’t been physically active, I would just recommend taking it slowly. Getting outside, watching the time — and of course, in Texas, we’re always worried about the heat and how long kids are exposed and physically working hard in the heat, so making sure kids stay hydrated, that you do kind of watch that time and work towards incrementally increasing the amount of physical activity they’re doing in any one setting. So, I think those are the two most important things, and again, like we said earlier — just getting outside with them, showing them. And the biggest part for kids and what again has been the success in Marathon Kids, is making it fun. If they’re having fun, their bodies are going to move and they’re going to enjoy it. They’re going to get that good feeling that it gives them. I mean, I love it when a kid comes up to me and says, “I can feel my heart pumping!” And I’m like “Yes!” That is what we want you to feel”. So it’s really simple. Like I said, kids were made to play. Make it fun. A little bit at a time, slowly increases until you feel good about where they are. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Yeah, and I think if you do have a child who is really resistive, as some kids can be — and usually, that stems from them feeling incompetent with it, like it’s going to be too hard or they’re going to be embarrassed or whatever it might be — if you have a kid who is really resistive, just start really small. Just start with “Let’s just go and walk for one minute.” Okay, that’s going to be it. Start small. That’s one of the things that I love about Marathon Kids too, is that I think kids are driven and motivated by these goals, by seeing and tracking what they’re doing, it’s part of why they love video games so much, that idea of there’s this goal, there is this thing I’m working towards, there’s this thing I’m trying to attain — So I think if you are a parent of a kid who tends to be really resistive to physical activity, this can be a really wonderful, motivating way to engage them. Have you seen that as well?

Cami Hawkins:

100%, yes. So that was another thing that we thought about when we built out this digital lap tracking application — because in the previous model, kids were getting rewarded, but they were only getting rewarded at every marathon milestone. So that’s a big milestone, 26.2 miles for a kid, that’s a long way. Like I said earlier: Some kids can do that easily, some kids, that is a real challenge to get there. So now in this new model, with the digital badging, we can reward kids at much smaller increments, and not ever for mileage. We can say “Most improved” or “Best attitude” or whatever it is that is intrinsically motivating for that child. So once again, keep it simple and those little goals, once they start adding up — kids are smart, they get it. Like you said, they play video games, they know how to achieve that next level. So this is the same thing. I mean it’s just using their language and applying physical activity to an environment where they feel good and happy. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Let’s talk a bit about Marathon Kids Connect. You’ve talked about how the traditional program, the original program, operates with clubs through schools. Talk about how Marathon Kids Connect can help families right now. 

Cami Hawkins:

So right now, there are a couple of ways. Yes, we’re still very focused on through the school because that is where we can reach the most kids. But I would just recommend that parents go online if they want to try to start a club, try to get a teacher involved — that would be the easiest and best way, but we also have free resources available for parents, so just downloading the mileage log and doing it on a physical piece of paper is a really easy way. That’s also a way that we have been trying to reach those kids and families that don’t have the technology that they need for the mobile application or even the web-based platform. So really getting those mileage logs and instructions distributed out to families and parents to utilize. And then, like I said, once they have a club, then the parent has direct access to the app and they can download and use the app at home or in a hybrid, remote kind of environment. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Awesome. So this could be a thing that parents come together — if they’re doing a learning pod, right now they can have a club through that. If they’re doing distance learning but still obviously are connected to the school, maybe starting with the child’s counselor or PE teacher or physical therapist or some contact person at school that can help that set up, so that you can get the app and things in place because it really is — looking at all the resources you have, it’s a really intuitive — parents are thinking “Oh my gosh, one more app to manage”, this is really simple and lovely in the way that it’s laid out. It’s not going to add more technology headaches to your day, I promise. 

Cami Hawkins:

Right. And because we are connecting to the school, it doesn’t mean that the entire school has to participate. We have that connector, then that one parent can be kind of the lead coach, so to say, for that school. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Yeah, and I think this is something that would be wonderful for those of you who are listening who are teachers, particularly special education teachers, if you’re therapists in the school environment, because I know we have a significant number of you that listen to the show — what a wonderful opportunity, regardless of what field you’re in, if you’re working with kids who can benefit from this, which is all of them — what a great, simple thing that you can add to what you’re providing kids and families by looking into Marathon Kids, starting a club and being able to offer this.

Cami Hawkins:

Exactly, and we have seen that is where the model works the best. You have one that decides that this is something that they want for them and their kids, then we see that grow in a school, then across the school district, and it literally changes the culture of the school. It becomes this important piece of what that school is about and what is important to them and the physical activity is as important as all the academic work that we do. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Absolutely, and it supports the academic work. It’s a foundation for helping all of the academic learning endeavors to work even better. 

Cami Hawkins:

Yes, totally. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

So let’s make sure that people know where they can go to find out more about Marathon Kids. I also know that it is a very special time for you guys because it’s your 25th anniversary and you’ve got some cool things going around that. So tell everybody where they can get more info and if there are certain things that you want them to do as next steps.

Cami Hawkins:

So I would say the number one place to go is the website. So marathonkids.org, that’s the homepage, and then from there, you can find information on Marathon Kids Connect, free resources for parents, how to get involved as a coach — it’s pretty straightforward, just navigate through the website, marathonkids.org. And then, you’re right, this is a huge year for us. This is our 25th anniversary. We feel like we have touched a generation of kids and we now want to get ready to support this next generation of Marathon Kids. So we have kicked off. We are going to be celebrating the entire season of Marathon Kids and we have kicked it off this year with a virtual relay, we’re calling it We Run The World, and we’re inviting everyone to come and register and donate their miles, not their dollars necessarily, but their miles to marathon kids. 

We are trying to run the circumference of the earth, which is just under 25,000 miles, so we’re trying to reach that 25,000-mile mark for our 25th anniversary, and then we want to hand the virtual baton off to the kiddos at the end of September and say “Now it’s your turn to start your journey with Marathon Kids this year.” So that is just again, marathonkids.org. You can put the /weruntheworld and that will take you directly to the registration page. We partnered — so Academy Sports and outdoors is our sponsor for this event, they are amazing — I know you probably don’t have them there in Michigan, but they are an amazing company in the south and south-east of the United States, so they are our major sponsor. And then we also partnered with a company called FitRankings which allows us to attach all of the different technology that people use to track their mileage — so whether you use Apple Watch or FitBit or Strava — whatever it is, when you go and register for the event, you link via your technology and then the mileage starts adding up through your tech.

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

So cool. And in this time that we’re feeling more isolated and socially distanced, what a wonderful way to not only get moving but also feel connected to such a large group of people working towards this goal, that’s very cool!

Cami Hawkins:

It’s so cool, and like I said, we just launched it on the first. The beauty of this FitRankings thing is it will go back and pick up your last 10 days. So you haven’t missed out on anything, and we’re encouraging people to just sign up all the way through the month of September regardless of the number of miles that they add, but even our staff yesterday, when we were looking at the rankings of everyone that’s participating, and you see that little motivating piece like, “Oh, there’s my friend! Oh, they’re 2 miles ahead of me! Oh, I’m going to go out and get an extra mile in today!” It’s been so fun! And then the other piece of that, we’ve also partnered with a company that’s called Tent, allowing us to take pictures and link them directly into the We Run The World platform so you can put your selfies on there of how you’re going out and getting physically active — we would love to see families and kids participating, but really again, it’s just about bringing the whole community together to really achieve this goal and to really support the kids in their journey as they start this new season of Marathon Kids. 

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

Fantastic. And it is the start of a new season, the start of a new school year, regardless how different it may look, it is sort of the turning of a page, the starting of a new season for families, for all of us, and so what a great time to get involved with this and to say for this entire school season, that this is what we’re doing. Fantastic. Cami, you’ve provided such great information and really great ideas and resources, I can’t thank you enough for being here with us today!

Cami Hawkins:

Thank you so much, it was my pleasure. I enjoyed it so much!

Dr. Nicole Beurkens:

And thanks to all of you for listening, go check out the links, get signed up, get your kids and yourselves moving and we’ll see you back here next time!