Late September I literally sat straight up in bed at 3:00am with the idea to host a middle school running club. The night before, McHenry County middle schools decided they would not be doing cross country, despite the state allowing the sport to continue. So I awoke in the middle of the night thinking, “Well I can host a running club. These kids need to run.” I spent the next 3 hours designing a program, knowing I wanted it to be led by Megan Sloan and I wanted it to revolve around everything middle schoolers need to learn during these formative years.
The result was one of the most special times in my life – as both a physical therapist and running technique specialist. Over the next 6 weeks, Megan and I designed a program that helped middle school runners learn about:
We invited specialists from all of the above topics to share their wisdom. We were able to host 4 meets, competing against ourselves and other schools. But what stuck with me most was the friendships that developed and the excitement that surrounded running . . . and learning about running.
And we wanted to try it again in the winter. So yes – it will look different because now we are limited to groups of 10 and the weather is about to get cold. But the goals of the program will remain the same: to teach these runners how to run faster, run longer, and reduce their risk for injury by improving their skills around running. We will have to wear masks with the indoor sessions but when we get to run outside (on days where it is >20 degrees), we will explore downtown Crystal Lake.
Here was an article posted in Chicago Athlete describing our adventure:
Or watch our wrap-up video:
We were also featured in the Northwest Herald:
Registration for our winter running club is now open and we would love to have your middle school runner join us!
Click here to register! Happy Running – nothing is going to stop us!
https://raceroster.com/events/2021/37807/middle-school-winter-running-club
