Capital City Marathon: Local kids running for ‘marathon’ status on Saturday

Elliott Arvidson admits that a five-minute mile might be a little too fast to aim for as a personal record.

He said he’ll modestly attempt to run between 10 and 11 minutes at Heritage Park in the annual Capital City Marathon Kids Run.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “I can’t wait until I get out on that mile course. It was a lot of fun last year.”

Elliott, a 7-year-old first-grader at Centennial Elementary School, ran the 1.2-mile course in 11:35 last year. He has logged a lot more time — and 23 more miles — in preparation for Saturday’s 4 p.m. race.

This year, kids who are in the eighth grade or younger can earn “marathon” status by logging 25 miles before the Kids Run on Saturday, and then completing the 1.2-mile run to reach 26.2.

“I still need two more miles, but I’m very close,” Elliott said. “I’ve been running a lot at school, and school is five days every week, so I get a lot of running in. And I’ve been running with my dad.”

He said he’ll get the final two miles in to qualify for the “marathon” challenge either Thursday or Friday, likely at Centennial’s track, where he is part of the school’s running club. He needs seven laps for two miles.

“It builds up your muscles to help you get stronger,” Elliott said. “If you’re lazy and watching TV and not doing anything, you’re not very good at things outside. When you play outside, it’s a lot (more fun).”

Paxton Price, 3, has been training in a similar way. His mother, Belle Price, organized a neighborhood running club to help kids train for the “marathon” challenge.

The group— which has about 12 kids who have been training since February — runs a loop around the outside of Ingersoll Stadium at Olympia High School, to log one mile two or three times per week.

Each time runners complete a mile, they’re given a toe-shaped token to add to necklaces they’ve made, which track their progress.

“I don’t think they will grasp that mile by mile, they’ve run a marathon,” Belle Price said. “That’s pretty cool. Most people they tell it to go, ‘Whoa!’ ”

But, for Paxton, completing his first “marathon” won’t even be the day’s biggest celebration.

“It’s my birthday,” Paxton said. “I’ll be 4.”

He and his running mates will celebrate with chocolate cake and Popsicles after the race. Each participant who completes the “marathon” challenge will be awarded a special prize.

“What is it? It’s so suspenseful!” Elliott said. “And you just don’t know what it is.”

Registration for the free event is open online, and day-of-race registration will be allowed. As of Wednesday evening, 271 kids were confirmed to race — 261 completed the race last year.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Capital City Marathon: Local kids running for ‘marathon’ status on Saturday."