One day. One track. Two thousand runners.
Brianna Santos’s strategy for success?
”
I’m going to run really, really fast,
”
said the Luigi Aprea Elementary School first grader through a
toothy grin after thinking it over.
One day. One track. Two thousand runners.
Brianna Santos’s strategy for success?
“I’m going to run really, really fast,” said the Luigi Aprea Elementary School first grader through a toothy grin after thinking it over.
Saturday will be the 6-year-old’s second time participating in Gilroy Unified School District’s annual Run For Fitness, a district-wide event where weeks of in-school physical training culminate in a jocund extravaganza celebrating healthy living with classmates, teachers and family.
“Doing good?” asked first grade Luigi teacher Toni Castruita.
She looked on as a pair of elementary students completed their second lap during a group exercise session Tuesday morning at Luigi. The two girls were holding hands and swinging their arms.
“Yup,” they answered in unison.
“Are we killing you?” joked Castruita.
“Nope.”
This year’s event is from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday at Gilroy High School’s track. The gathering will feature a resource fair with interactive/promotional booths, and has been expanded to include a parent running group.
Originally founded in 1988, Run for Fitness is the brainchild of Pat Vickroy – a P.E. teacher at four GUSD elementary schools who has led the local charge to improve student health during his 30-year career with the district.
“Any type of goal brings meaning to our lives as long as we have something to look forward to,” he said. “It gives us direction and purpose. When we fulfill that, we feel a deep level of accomplishment. That’s what these kids feel.”
When it initially kicked off in the ’80s, Vickroy said Run for Fitness lasted six years until funding and technical minutiae contributed to its cessation. The event was revived in the 21st century and is now going strong in its fourth year – registered participants spiking from 900 in 2010 to 2,000 in 2011.
Students prepare by participating in mandatory weekly group training sessions eight weeks prior to the event, with actual registration for the Fun Run highly encouraged but not required. Vickroy noted generous community donors including Arteaga’s Super Save Market, the YMCA, Kaiser Permanente, Saint Louise Regional Hospital and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department has kept the cost free for participants.
“The thrill for me is seeing a sea of children being active, setting fitness goals for themselves, running their hearts out and enjoying the experience,” noted GUSD Board president Rhoda Bress, a major advocate of the program.
Not only is the event proactive, Vickroy reminded, it’s an overarching tool in combating Gilroy’s mediocre scores in the California Department of Education Physical Fitness Test.
The PFT is administered every year to students in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades and evaluates performance in six fitness categories including aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength and flexibility.
According to the CDE’s recently released 2009-10 results for GUSD, 12.9 percent of fifth graders, 26.7 percent of seventh graders and 37.9 percent of ninth graders tested in the Healthy Fitness Zone for all six of the above fitness categories.
“It’s blatant,” said Vickroy of the data. “It just stands out how poor of shape these kids are in, and how important events are like this to raise awareness.”
For Santa Clara County students in 2010, 38 percent tested in the HFZ for all six fitness categories – slightly higher than California’s state average of 34 percent according to the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Assessment and Accountability Department.
As she watched a whirlpool of kindergarten and first grade students spring, skip, jog and meander around Luigi’s blacktop during a morning training session, Castruita observed the youngsters are sometimes slightly more enthusiastic than their upper class counterparts.
As Cameron Soloman, a curly-haired first grader sporting camouflage pants and fluorescent sunglasses, passed Castruita, he screeched to a halt, took a wide stance, flashed both hands in the air with vivacious zeal and declared, “I want to go 10 laps!”
Castruita is one of the main organizers for the run and explained students train during school alongside their peers at staggered times. Today they were running four laps around the blacktop, which was close to one mile, she said.
“Keep going!” she cheered. “Don’t let those first graders beat you!”
On Saturday, kindergartners will kick things off by running three quarters of a mile around the GUSD track with start times staggered every 15 minutes. The first through third grades will run two miles, and everyone else – including the parents – will run 3.1 miles, Vickroy said.
Resource Fair organizer Mendy Cantero, the operations manager for child nutrition with GUSD, said a handful of representatives coming out will include Saint Louise Regional Hospital, Community Solutions, the Gilroy Police and Fire Departments and PG&E – which will host a booth focusing on energy saving tips. There will also be an A to Z salad bar where visitors can sample new and healthy options drizzled in various tasty vinaigrettes.
“We’ll be keeping it healthy,” she said.
Vickroy admitted the run is a “tremendous” amount of work – especially in the wake of “gut-wrenching” budget constraints.
At one point he wasn’t sure if the event was feasible, given the economic climate. Thanks to community support, however, the fitness torch hasn’t been dropped.
“The gratification you get out of it is heartwarming,” said Vickroy. “They’re so incredibly proud of themselves – holding up their shirts, taking pictures – and the parents are just grinning ear to ear. You can’t put a price tag on that type of gratification. You can’t buy that.”
***
Gilroy Unified School District Fitness Data
– Annually, students in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades are given the California Department of Education Physical Fitness Test, which evaluates fitness in six different categories
– Out of 2,446 fifth, seventh and ninth grade GUSD students, 626 tested in the Healthy Fitness Zone for all six categories in the 2009-2010 report, or about 26 percent. Numbers and percentages broken down by grade are:
– 110 fifth graders out of 852, or 12.9 percent
– 209 seventh graders out of 783, or 26.7 percent
– 307 ninth graders out of 811, or 37.9 percent
– For Santa Clara County students, 38 percent tested in the HFZ for all six fitness categories. The state average is 34 percent
– The GUSD Run for Fitness, a district-wide exercise/fitness awareness event, will take place from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Gilroy High School’s track, 750 West 10th St.
Sources: Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Assessment and Accountability Department; California Department of Education
