By: CARY ASPINWALL World Scene Writer
Friday, September 18, 2009
9/18/2009 4:57:06 AM
Mayor Kathy Taylor stopped by Grissom Elementary on Thursday morning to congratulate students who've logged more than 7,500 miles together through the school's running club.
"I think you're the Grissom Super Stars," Taylor told the students.
Tulsamillionmiles.com recently passed the 806,000-mile mark, thanks to the efforts of Grissom's 100-mile club and thousands of other locals who've participated by logging their miles running, cycling, walking and swimming. The Web site launched in October 2008 with a goal of getting Tulsans to log more than 1 million miles through exercise.
Now Taylor hopes to get enough people signed up for various races at the Oct. 31 Tulsa Run that the city could reach the 1 million mile mark as runners cross the finish line.
Taylor, a celebrity runner for the 2008 race, will lead a group including Grissom's 100-mile club at the 2k Fun Run.
"We know childhood obesity is one of the most significant problems Oklahoma faces," Taylor said. "We hope the Grissom students will inspire other Tulsans to join us at the Tulsa Run and to participate in Tulsa Million Miles."
Mike Mills, Grissom's physical education teacher and running program coach, said he regularly has about 90 students show up for 1- to 2-mile runs about 30 minutes before school begins.
More than 150 students are signed up now, and the club has logged more than 700 miles in the first two weeks of this school year.
"They love the challenge," Mills said.
Students get rewarded when they reach various mile marks, and the two boys and girls who log the most miles get trophies at the end of the year.
Fourth-grader Nicole Dingle won a trophy at the end of last school year for running 244 miles. She hopes to log 300 this year, she said.
Principal Jennifer Gripado said the physical activity not only benefits the students' health, but their ability to learn.
"It wakes them up and gets their blood flowing," she said. "Some teachers even have them take 'brain breaks' and run laps on the track between classes."
Tulsa Million Miles
Guess the date and time Tulsa will reach its millionmile goal, and you could win prizes, including:
- Weekend stay at the Tulsa Marriott
- Tulsa Drillers Rookie Package
- Annual family membership from the Oklahoma Aquarium
- Tulsa Million Miles T-shirts
- Two tickets to a BOK Center event
Entries must be submitted before the site reaches 850,000 total miles, so enter soon at tulsaworld.com/millionmiles.
Participants can also order official Tulsa Million Miles T-shirts (in Dri-Fit technical fabric) on site, cost is $15 to $19.
Tulsa Run
The Oct. 31 Tulsa Run will benefit Life Senior Services and YMCA of Greater Tulsa.
The run will follow the same course as 2008, starting from downtown Tulsa, winding through midtown and finishing at the BOK Center.
This year’s presenting sponsors are Bank of Oklahoma, ONEOK, QuikTrip, Tulsa World and Wal-Mart.
For more information or to register for the 15k and 5k races or 2k Fun Run, visit tulsaworld.com/tulsarun
Oct. 21: Entry deadline for all teams.
Oct. 24: Entry deadline for regular fees. Entries and correct fees must be postmarked by midnight.
Oct. 30: Fitness Fair packet pickup, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at OU-Tulsa Learning Center, 43rd Street and Yale Avenue.