The youngsters, all participants of Rising New York Road Runners, an initiative created to develop movement skills through running and fitness activities, received free New Balance running shoes.
The students from Brownsville's P.S. 345 Patrolman Robert Bolden are ready for Saturday's Brooklyn Half Marathon, thanks to the nonprofit New York Road Runners (NYRR) which distributed free running shoes to over 100 youngsters yesterday.
The students, all participants of NYRR's free, youth running and fitness program Rising New York Road Runners, received fresh New Balance sneakers. And some kids broke them in right away during a morning activity session in preparation for Saturday's one-mile out and back Youth Run, which is part of the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
For the past five years, P.S. 345 has been participating in the Rising New York Road Runners youth program, an initiative created to develop movement skills in kids through a mix of running and fitness activities. The program is designed to help youngsters build their confidence, their motivation and their desire to be physically active for life. The initiative serves kids in NYC and nationwide, from pre-K through 12th grade. During the 2016-2017 school year, 134,000 youngsters citywide participated in NYRR's free fitness programs and events--of those, nearly 35,000 students joined from close to 250 sites in Brooklyn.
Yesterday's event was certainly a big surprise for the students. One young runner asked: "We actually get to keep these?"
The event was a smashing success -- just take a look at the photos! And the kids... they are now ready to tackle Saturday's one-mile Youth Run. Go, Rising Runners of Brooklyn!
