Send this article to Promobot

Marathon club runners take it one lap at a time

May 11th 1:25 pm | Van Williams Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Barrow schoolchildren Kevin, Janessa, Kara and Louden have probably never been to Berlin, Chicago, London and New York, but they've run marathons there.

OK, not really, but the Hopson Middle School students this year did participate in a running program created by teacher Steve Gillaspie that encouraged kids to school early in the morning.

Gillaspie, an Alaska Hall of Fame wrestling coach who has spent his career working with kids, organized a marathon club as an alternate option to open gym before school.

The morning runs begin at 7 a.m., an hour before school starts, with each student running 30 minutes per day until 26.2 miles have been completed.

"If you see kids wearing shirts from around the world, yes, they did earn them - all 26.2 miles of them," Gillaspie said.

In doing these marathons the kids are able to understand the history of the cities as well as historical structures they would pass along the route.

"It has been a great way to discuss history and geography, as well as work on math skills when breaking down pace and distances," Gillaspie said.

At Hopson Middle School, a single marathon consists of 579 laps around the gymnasium.

More than 20 students participated in the program and some of them finished as many as five marathons over the course of the school year.

"We got kids up here that have a lot of athletic ability," said Gillaspie, who also has coaching stops in Nikiski and Sitka. "We've got some talented kids, so let's give them an opportunity. We talk a lot about commitment. We talk about all the basics of life. We're promoting a healthy living as well as life skills."

Another big part of the team's success is student manager Kimberly Pikok, who arrives at 6:45 each morning to count laps for everyone.

"For three years, her and I would race each other to see who could get to school earlier," Gillaspie said with a laugh. "Finally she walked into the gym and I asked her if she wanted to help.

"All she said was, 'Give me your clipboard.' She doesn't talk. She speaks very little. When she said that, I was like, 'Wow, she talked to me. That was kind of cool.'

"So every day after that she was right there waiting for me. It turned out pretty cool."

The marathoners have kept Pikok busy, tracking as many as 3,500 laps for some runners. The top runners logged as many as 92 laps per day.

It's not about running a number of laps as much as buying into the idea of following through on something you started.

"If it we were easy everybody would be involved," Gillaspie said. "We're talking about a rare breed here."

Many kids started and never finished. Some quit after one day.

The kids that stuck it out through the end were rewarded with special gifts, such as new running shoes.

Reach Van Williams at sports@reportalaska.com.

Hopson Middle School

Marathon Club Finishers

Anchorage [September] - Kevin 3:45:31; Louden 5:13:02; Kamaka 4:20:48; Paige 4:05:27.

New York [December] - Janessa 4:23:12; Kara 5:53:04; Naomi 5:25:51; Trevor 3:53:45; Louden 5:53:54; Steven 4:24:57.

Berlin [January] - Kevin 3:41:16; Janessa 4:22:01; Kara 5:18:36; Louden 4:32:16.

Chicago [February] - Kevin 3:32:17; Janessa 4:13:48; Kara 4:56:58; Naomi 4:57:29.

London [March] - Kein 3:32:14; Janessa 4:16:07; Kara 4:38:51; Louden 4:32:11.

Boston [April] - Kevin 3:16:50; Janessa 4:06:21; Kara 4:55:39; Becca 4:51:39.

 

Contact us about this article at editor@thearcticsounder.com

Copyright 2013 The Arctic Sounder is a publication of Alaska Media, LLC. This article is © 2013 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Media, LLC makes no provisions for further distribution.