HUNDREDS OF primary school pupils in Meath have been running during their lunch breaks in recent weeks.
The children are participating in an unusual event that culminates this weekend with a 2.2km run in Claremont Stadium in Navan.
Up to 1,200 students, some as young as five and six, from 19 schools across the county are attempting to complete a full Olympic-distance marathon.
But they are sensibly avoiding the dangers that high-volume training might pose to their young bodies by running the 26.2 miles (42.195kms) over an eight to 10-week period.
The unique format of the event, which has become popular in the US, lets children cover the first 40kms of a standard marathon distance in training, keeping a record of their runs on a school chart and monitoring their progress as they go.
Organisers of the Meath Fit Kidz Marathon say the event is aimed at getting children into “habits of fitness” rather than one-off bouts of exercise.
Many of the participating children have been training during their lunch breaks since September, determined to be ready for their final run at the stadium on Saturday at 2pm.
Philip Cogavin from the Meath County Athletic Board said: “Too often athletics is seen as an elite sport – primarily focused on winning gold medals or coming first – and this can put some children off.”
“It’s not a race. They all have to do it at their own pace. It’s the mere fact of completing the distance that is the achievement,” he said. “Some children have completed the training distance three times over already, while others are working hard to make sure they have the minimum distance covered in advance of Saturday’s final leg.”
Alongside the completion of the marathon, the Meath Athletics Board is hosting a “Little Athletics Jamboree” at the stadium.
