A follow on Read, Right, Run

Kids at St. Luke the Evangelist School already are looking forward to next year's Read, Right, Run program. This year, 27 kids at the school did all of the required reading, running and good works and took part in a final Fitness Weekend in Forest Park.

A total of 1,050 kids participated in Read, Right, Run this school year. The program was sponsored by the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon.

Starting last fall, each week kids ran a mile, read a book and did a good deed. Then, early in April, the kids participated in a Family Fitness Weekend in Forest Park.

In all, Read, Right, Run kids ran 26.2 miles, read 26 books and did 26 good deeds.

The Family Fitness Weekend came at the same time St. Louis was hosting the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. The top three women make up the U.S. Olympic marathoners for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Another highlight of the weekend was the 2004 Spirit of St. Louis Marathon.

That last weekend, the Read, Run, Right kids finished their marathon distance with 3.2-mile or 1.2-mile runs. In the 3.2-mile run, two St. Luke kids finished first in their divisions.

Julie Cronin was the first 8th grade girl to cross the line while Eli Clampett was the first 6th grade boy to finish. Both kids got medals although the run wasn't a competitive one.

Thirteen-year-old Julie said, "I had a real bad cramp midway through the race. But, a woman running nearby urged me on. And I was able to finish the race."

She said the Read. Right, Run program helped me "get into shape" with the running and "expanded my mind" with the reading.

Also, her gym teacher at St. Luke urged her to try out for both track and cross-country next year. Julie will be a freshman at St. Joseph's Academy next fall.

Twelve-year-old Eli said he'll be participating in Read, Right, Run next year.

He said, "I like reading so I enjoyed reading the books. And then I liked the marathon finish in Forest Park." He said he finished his 3.2 miles in 24 minutes and 24 seconds.

Of the books he read, Eli liked "Eragon" the best. (Young Saint Louis.com did a special report on author Christopher Paolini and a review of his fantasy book in the December, 2003, edition. To read those, click here.)

Julie's favorite reading was the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books.

Julie said her favorite good deed was joining her grandmother to entertain older women at a nursing home. She said her grandmother volunteers at the home every week.

"It made my grandmother happy and it made me happy," she said.

Eli said his favorite good deed involved helping a neighbor get rid of junk in the alley behind her home. "She had lots of stuff and couldn't get it into the dumpster," he said.

Among younger St. Luke kids who completed the RRR program were 4th grader Clair Laufketter and second grader Noah Panicola. They ran 1.2 miles on the final weekend.

Ten-year-old Clair said she also got a cramp in her run. "I started to jog because of the cramp but I worked it out. I never had to walk," she said.

She said her favorite book was "Holes." And her favorite good deed was helping her mother when her family moved into a new home.

Clair said she didn't take part in RRR last year. "I didn't know if it was any good last year. But, this year, I tried it and it was the best," she said.

Noah said his favorite book was "Babe Ruth and Me." He described the book as being about a boy who could travel back through time.

His favorite good deed: "I played with my little sister and her friend when they didn't have anything to do," he said.

Gym teacher Rose Murphy helped to keep the kids interested in the running during the school year. She timed each one of them when they ran a mile on the school grounds. She said the best mile time she clocked during the year was 7 minutes, 32 seconds by 8th grader Joe Graff.

Then, she posted all the times outside her office. "The kids checked the times regularly to see how they ranked. And, if I didn't put the lists up soon enough for them, they told me about it," she said.

Teacher Carolyn Landwehr was the RRR coordinator this year. "The kids have been asking me about next year's program already," she said.

(Editor's note: If you'd like to learn more about the Read, Right, Run program you can go to www.stlmarathon.com. If you or your school want to register early, you can e-mail to the address on the website.

(Nancy Lieberman of the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon said schools will be notified of the 2004-2005 Read, Right, Run program in early August. The final Family Fitness Weekend will be April 9-10, 2005.)