The Club began in the Fall of 2009. It was an idea made a reality by a grant awarded by the Athens Foundation. This grant allowed us to purchase new running shoes and a T-shirt for each participating student. We met for an hour after school three times a week. It was open to all 4th-6th grade students. When the weather permitted we ran outside on the football field in the back of the school. In the cold snowy weather we spend a lot of time in the gym jump roping, which is a great alternative cardiovascular work out.

-Runners warm up their muscles with the "grapevine" drill

Some people think that running and other physically activity can help manage ADD/ADHD.            Here is one mom's story.

Right before winter break we had invited parents to CRC to see what it was all about.  We introduced ourselves formally to family members. The kids led their own warm up activity that they would normally do before running.  Then we broke up into groups. One group showed parents some cool jump roping tricks they'd learned while the other group decorated pictures of themselves and wrote what they liked about running. After switching groups we all went upstairs for some healthy fruit smoothies and some pizza donated from Papa Johns- THANKS!

The Community Center graciously opened its doors to a small group of us early one Sunday morning. They let us have the whole place to ourselves at no cost- THANKS! We wanted expose the kids to running in a different venue. We had a lot of fun racing around the track and stretching afterwards.

Some of our runners got to experience the buzz that surrounds an formal race such as the Athens Marathon and Half Marathon. We all met near the starting life and watched the start of the big race. We even got to cheer on Janalee as she whizzed past us as she started the half marathon. Then we walked to Goldsberry Track for a race of our own! Alongside other kids from the community, the CRC runners participated in a 1/2 mile kids fun run. We used the grant money to pay their entry fee. They seemed to really enjoy the competition and excitement of a big race. We couldn't be more proud!

Through the snowy months, the kids practiced jump roping a lot. Each one mastered a special trick. They put everything together into an answer routine to music. CRC performed their jump roping routine during the school assembly that kicked off testing week. Our message to the school was that staying healthy will help you do better on tests... you need to 1. get plenty of sleep, 2. eat healthy food, 3. have a positive attitude, and 4. EXCERSIZE.

-These two girls performed a trick where they jumped together side ways across the gym using the same jump rope. Wow!

Alpha Phi Omega, the OU service fraternity that helped out with CRC, organized a field day scavenger hunt extravaganza- THANKS! We played games and reviewed some important concepts we learned throughout the year. We even had a station of healthy snacks where we reviewed things like the health benefits of dark chocolate and tasted samples - YUM!

-These boys are working together to pop 5 balloons in 5 different ways. How fun.

-We also reviewed one of the most important muscles involved in running- the mind. Each runner made a "mantra medal" with the phrase they use to motivate themselves to keep running even when it is hard.

- Everyone giggled as they tried to compete in a three-legged obstacle course race.

May 5th, concluded CRC this year. We invited the runners' families to come celebrate all of their accomplishments.  We kicked off the celebration with an excited 1mile race. The first and second place runners each got real medals and everyone got ribbons. After the race we went inside and enjoyed pizza donated by Good Fellas and Papa Johns- THANKS! We brought each kids up and gave them a special award and certificate. We concluded the day with a raffle that all the kids' names were put in. The community center donated a punch pass and we used the remaining grant money to buy other active prizes like hula hoops, frisbees, soccer balls, etc. Every kid walked away with something.