Monumental Kids Marathon

Each year, students at our school are invited to participate in running club, which is a club that meets before school twice a week to train for the Monumental Marathon 5K. All schools in IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) are invited to participate, and kids get to run an official 5K race for free, right alongside other racers. I didn't help with running club, but they needed extra adults to run with the kids during the race and I regularly run a few miles on my own anyway, so I volunteered to run with a group.

It was an early, chilly morning, but once the sun came up it was a really nice morning for a run. Teachers Gene Markiewicz and Sherry Sullivan.

I got assigned to a really fun group of fifth and sixth grade girls - Carmen Carlos-Kelly, Chelcey Adams, Laci Smith, and Aubrey Brown. A few other girls ended up running with us, too. The girls did a great job sticking it out, even when they got tired.

Some college-aged volunteers had helped with running club, so they came to support the kids during the race.

Our principal Kathleen Miller and her husband Chad with some of our students.

Teachers Stacie Stanley and Aaron Munson

Sherry Sullivan

All the IPS students wore these bright orange shirts - part of the Monumental Kids Movement!

Getting pumped to start!

The Pacers cheerleaders were there cheering on runners, so the girls snapped a photo with them!

I love this city!