¿Qué les aporta correr a los niños?
P.S. 75's running club members take a break during practice in Riverside Park.
With this blog post, NYRR Contributors Circle member Keila Merino shares her reflections on the running club she coaches at P.S. 75, where she also teaches 5th grade. As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6–10), let's give a shout-out to teachers like Keila and the amazing work they do!
Read Keila's previous Contributors Circle blog post here.
Belonging
As humans, we all have the desire and perhaps the need of belonging to something. This sense of belonging is essential to us because it means that others accept us for who we are.
As a young girl who was not given a choice of immigrating to the U.S., I struggled to find my place. I attended school and participated in activities, like any average kid, but often felt out of place. I didn’t eat the same foods or speak the same language. It was imperative to find something that would make me feel safe and at home in this foreign land that I now had to call home. I was forced to quickly adapt by learning English in a year, excelling in school, and making new friends. But I still felt out of place.
Running became my refuge as a child. It reminded me of chasing the soccer ball with cousins in Mexico and it helped me develop close friendships—friendships that helped me feel included and happy. Running made me feel like I belonged.
As a teacher and a coach at P.S. 75, I see the same yearning from our students—to find something that makes them feel safe and at home. Our school has a dual language program, 49% of our students have an IEP (Individualized Educational Program), and recently, we've had an influx of refugees from various countries. As a result, our running club consists of kids with diverse backgrounds and ages. The club is important to them. It’s a place where they all speak the same language—the language of movement—build community, and most of all, create stability.
Movement
Our running club at P.S. 75, part of the Rising New York Road Runners program, meets twice a week from 7:10 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Similar to being in a classroom, the 45-minute workouts are structured and modified to accommodate different levels. Although simple, they are designed to prevent disruptions through varied activities. Kids who may be hyperactive or students who struggle with short attention spans have no time to be distracted.
Each gym workout begins with student-led warm-up laps. This builds a sense of leadership. Immediately after warm-up laps, each runner is assigned a group to complete plyometric exercises, which are then followed by the main workout. Main workouts are the most challenging and vary depending on the day. On Wednesdays kids work on building stamina through tempo runs or easy long runs. On Fridays runners work on speed by focusing on sprints.
Our outdoor workouts take place in Riverside Park or along the Hudson River. We love this park because of its proximity and its hilly terrain. We take advantage of its many hills for hill training to build speed or enjoy the cool breeze of the Hudson River on warmer days. After each workout, we cool down by jogging back to the school’s front yard where we stretch before heading into the school building just in time for breakfast.
Whatever the workout, kids always comment that it was challenging, but that they had fun. One of my favorite things about coaching is the smiles I see when I dismiss them to class. They seem to really enjoy being a part of a team. There are no language or academic restrictions, just pure effort and fun.
Community
Our running club creates community for our students. During a typical school day, kids have limited interactions across the grades. For example, 2nd graders mostly interact with lower grades (kindergarten and 1st grade), but our running club provides an opportunity for them to interact with older kids twice a week. During warm-ups older kids are paired with younger runners to work as a team. 4th and 5th graders take really good care of their younger teammates. They take interest in what they have to say and make sure they stay with the group by encouraging them and slowing down when they can’t keep up.
As a coach, I get to observe these interactions in every practice. Imagine being a 2nd grader with 5th grade friends, the seniors of the school! Little kids truly admire the big kids and they love being a teammate to these students. These friendships extend outside of running workouts. Kids are kind and genuinely friendly in the hallways.
This sense of community is even more apparent on race day when parents take part in it. On race days, most parents ride a school bus to and from NYRR’s events. When other parents are running late or have an issue arriving on time for the bus, they offer to help each other. At races, kids and parents cheer for each other. When a child gets hurt or is not having a great day, parents jump at the opportunity to help even if the runner is a complete stranger.
This is only our second year hosting a running club at our school, and the bond between parents and runners is visible. After being inspired by their kids' efforts and successes, a few moms are planning to run a 5K with them! I think they also look forward to races even if we sometimes have to meet at 5:00 a.m. for the bus.
Stability
The running club creates a safe place where kids can be successful regardless of their language or academic levels. Our running group grew as the end of the season approached because teachers and counselors referred kids who struggled in the classroom for various reasons. They needed a structured program to help them release energy before school. We received a lot of positive feedback from teachers that kids tended to be calmer on workout days. One would think that a kid would not want to wake up so early to attend a club, but for the most part, they were on time.
In addition to teacher referrals, our team also grew due to the number of immigrant refugees, whose lives are unstable. All these families are living in nearby hotels not knowing how long they will be allowed to remain in each location. The running club gives them and their families a sense of community, stability, and fun that they so desperately need. We love our runners and their families who help us feel like rockstars.
As the end of the school year approaches, we look forward to our last few events and the opportunity to cheer on each other. I love the little family of 40 runners that we have created.
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