At the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year, Jeremiah Bland, currently in his fifth year as a physical education teacher for Oakhaven Elementary School, saw that his school offered no extracurricular activities to students whatsoever, and he sought to change that.
As his luck would have it, that same year, he attended a Shelby County School District Learning Day where a colleague of his, Rachel Harbin, spoke about her involvement with a program called Marathon Kids.
During this session, Bland learned that Marathon Kids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging children to be more physically active through involvement in running clubs that can be placed in schools, camps, and communities. The program sets running goals of 104.8 miles, or a total of four marathons, for runners throughout the season and logs their progress along the way.
Inspired to get Marathon Kids into his school, Bland did some research and found a grant that would fund his school’s reception of this program. His grant application was accepted by Nike, one of Marathon Kids’ partners, and in October 2016, he was able to get his school’s new running club, the High Flying Hawks, off the ground.
The team, made up of 50 3rd-5th graders, prepares for marathons through a variety of exercises.
“My kids love the Superhero exercises, which encompass a variety of workouts with names like Fantastic 4, Wonder Woman, Superman, Thanos, Ant-Man, and more,” says Bland. Other workouts and activities in which Bland and his students partake include track, cross-country, doing steps inside the school, parachutes, strength training, circuit training, yoga, pilates, and bowling. He also incorporates field day activities including tug-of-war, sack races, cup stacking relays, and track relay races.
“To make practices fun, I have the team vote on a teacher at the school they would like to work out with,” says Bland. “Sometimes, I’ll bring in a guest, such as a community leader in the area.”
Through the grant provided by Nike, children are able to participate in Youth Villages 5K and Nike Classic 3K at no cost. Other marathons his team has participated in include St. Jude, Le Bonheur Pumpkin Run, Memphis Grizzlies GrizzFit, and Shelby County Education Foundation Race for Education.
“Through my personal involvement with the Red Cross and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), I am always engaging my teams in community events and networking,” he says.
At the end of each season, Bland hosts a special awards banquet at Incredible Pizza for his runners. “It is really amazing. It should be recorded and broadcast on TV,” he jokes. At the banquet, all children receive mileage log certificates and achievement trophies, and exemplary runners are awarded with special trophies in various categories including Team Spirit, Rookie of the Year, Best Team Leader, Most Improved, Fastest 5K Runner, and Hardest Worker. To further commemorate the occasion, Bland sets out display boards with photos looking back on the team’s participation in and attendance of races, practices, black history and honor awards programs, and community parades.
Bland has seen students excel physically, emotionally, and academically. “On top of showing improved 5K times and eating healthier, my students are more confident, making better grades, developing great friendships, showing great teamwork, and displaying good public speaking skills,” he says.
Bland gets fulfillment from the program, as well. “The program has allowed me to take on more of a leadership role and offer some professional accountability and the best practices to utilize with my run team,” he says. “It has placed me in the role of being a scout, evaluator, trainer, coach, mentor, motivational speaker, and inspirational leader to the school staff and community.”
Any Shelby County Schools faculty interested in implementing Marathon Kids into their school’s curriculum may attend District Learning Day sessions led by Bland and his colleague Andrew Martin of Grahamwood Elementary. Other school systems, summer camps, communities, and even families can become involved in this program, too. Visit marathonkids.org for more information.
Julia Baker, a second-generation journalist, is a staff writer for Memphis Parent magazine and a University of Memphis junior.