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Healthy Kids Run in the
Family
By Kipp Hanley
Allen Widdifield may have been born 90 years after author O.
Henry created the fictional gunslinger “The Cisco Kid”, but
the soon-to-be nine-year-old with the same nickname has
become quite popular around his father’s Cisco Systems Inc.
office. According to father Scott, Allen was the only child
from his company that participated in the one-mile Marine
Corps Marathon (MCM) Healthy Kids Fun Run two years ago.
Hence the nickname the Cisco Kid.
Allen is an example of how running and exercising regularly
is often a family affair with father and son and mother and
daughter sharing more than just life lessons and bedtime
stories. This year marks the third straight time Allen will
participate in the one-mile run, which will be held on Oct.
28 at the DC Armory for children ages 6-13. It’s a perfect
way for families like the Widdifields to bond and to realize
the benefits of physical fitness.
“The primary goal of the Healthy Kids Fun Run is to
encourage children to get fit, stay healthy and enjoy
exercise,” said Rick Nealis, MCM Race Director. “I hope the
run challenges families to make healthy lifestyle choices
now that can last a lifetime. It is also a great opportunity
to introduce children to the fun and energy of running,
maybe even inspiring a future Olympic marathoner or MCM
winner.”
Major Alex Hetherington, a veteran of 13 Marine Corps
Marathons, has a laid-back approach to exercising when it
comes to his four children. Hetherington “strongly believes
that running needs to be a personal decision” and “only the
inwardly directed person will have the interest and
dedication to run regularly.” Still, there is no shortage of
competition at the Hetherington household. Driveways races
inevitably lead to a claim by one child that the race
“wasn’t fair.” He’s also been told by each one of his
children they intend to be great runners when they grow up.
Hetherington had a terrific athletic example in his own
house while growing up in up-state New York. Hetherington’s
father Bob, a life-long runner, shared his interest in
running with his son. That passion for running is common
among Marines like Hetherington, who serve as models of
physical fitness and will be on hand to support young
participants in this month’s Healthy Kids Fun Run.
Fourteen-year-old Dominique P., a Clinton, Md. resident who
participated in the Healthy Kids Fun Run last year, also has
terrific role models when it comes to running. Mother
Carlita and father James were both track stars when they
were younger, competing at the University of Maryland and
University of Southern California, respectively.
Dominique grew up running with her father and often bicycles
with her mother to stay in shape for a potential track and
field or lacrosse career in high school. She also noted that
she has become closer to her father since she started
running and walking with him. The teenager’s passion for
running hasn’t been slowed by asthma either. She wants to
compete in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K this year and hopes
to kick off a lifetime of physical fitness, just like her
parents.
These families have experienced the many positive effects
running or exercising can offer. Exercising with or
promoting exercise to your children can:
• Create a bond between parent and child. It’s something you
can talk about as a family besides schoolwork or social
life.
• Create greater self-esteem. No matter how good your child
is at a given exercise, if you encourage them to simply do
it, there’s a good chance they will feel better about
themselves and their bodies.
• Teach goal-setting. Regardless of what kind of student or
athlete your child is, running or exercising on a regular
schedule is accomplishing a goal.
• Be fun for both adult and child. In an on-line story in
the July/August 2002 issue of Monitor On Psychology, author
Kate Hays was quoted as saying: “what you need is the form
of exercise that you experience as so satisfying that the
issue of motivation drops out.” In other words, if you like
doing something, there’s a good chance you will continue to
do what makes you happy.
Active parents set a great example for children about the
importance of a healthy lifestyle, encouraging kids to
follow mom or dad’s lead.
• Make going to the gym a family event.
• Children learn by example. Instead of just encouraging
children to take a walk or bike ride after school, join
them. Or go for a jog at the local track as a family.
• Get other families in on the action. Challenge a neighbor
or friend with similarly-aged children to a game a pick up
basketball, touch football or softball. Make sure adults and
children can all be included in the fun.
• Witnessing the fun of a sporting event can inspire
children to get involved. When participating in a local
running event, like the Marine Corps Marathon, bring kids
along to cheer parents on and witness the great energy. They
just might want to get involved the next time.
Help children get in on the exercise fun by registering for
the Saturday, October 28 Healthy Kids Fun Run to be held at
the DC Armory. Or, get started together on a fitness and
exercise program by challenging older members of the family
to complete the MCM 10K. Make fitness a family affair and
pass the baton of a healthy lifestyle to the next
generations.
Articles in the Health Kids Series are presented by the
Marine Corps Marathon Healthy Kids Fun Run to be held on
Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006. Registration is open until October
17 at
www.marinemarathon.com. The one-mile run welcomes
children ages 6-13. Kipp Hanley is the Marketing Coordinator
for the Marine Corps Marathon. No federal or Marine Corps
endorsement implied.
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