Fremont Adventure Recreation's Youth Exercise Training Initiative program aims at getting kids (and their parents!) interested and involved in running. This program begins with a training schedule in April and culminates on May 6th at the runBlossom Races in Cañon City. Here, the kids run a 5K race, complete with t-shirt and opportunity to win age-level awards. Over 250 students participated in the program in 2019. A number of parents and guardians also run with their children.
We serve students from second grade to high school in the Cañon City area. About 56% of our population are on Free / Reduced lunch, so it is evident that we serve a low-income population. These students are at higher risk of both mental and physical health issues, and we aim to provide a low-cost method of exercise and community involvement to all. Our students pay just $5 (fee waived if necessary) to participate in the 4-week training program PLUS a legitimate 5K community race.
Students who may have never been interested in running often run their first race with YETI. The program not only gets kids outside 2-3 times a week, but it also teaches them training techniques. Additionally, a number of parents "train" with their students and admit to the race ALSO being their first. The runBlossom race is part of the larger Blossom Festival and Cañon City, and we believe that getting kids involved in their community helps them to be better community members as they grow.
Donations help us to offset the cost of the program, including providing a stipend for coaches (about $25 per person), t-shirts for the youth runners, t-shirts for coaches, race bibs (chip timed), and promotional materials (like stickers or buttons) for the kids.
