Plenty of Family Fun and Fitness at GO! St. Louis

2010 marks the 10th running of the GO! St. Louis Marathon and Family Fitness Weekend, Missouri’s largest fitness event. In addition to the full and half-marathon events, there are plenty of activities for families and kids to enjoy some fit fun in the (hopefully) sun.

The marathon, which takes place on Sunday, April 11, will be preceded by a day of family fitness events on Saturday, April 10 in Forest Park. At 9:15 area school children will participate in the Read, Right and Run Marathon®, launched in 2001 to develop reading proficient, physically fit and community minded children by challenging them to READ 26 books, RIGHT the community with 26 good deeds, and RUN 26.2 miles over a six-month period. Participating K-5 students will run their final 1.2 miles and the middle-schoolers will run a 5K (3.1 miles). More than 30,000 area students have accepted the challenge since the program was established.

A series of Childrens Fun Runs will begin at 10:15 a.m. at Cricket Field, featuring four different events for children, including a “Diaper Dash” for toddlers and three races for children ages two to 10, a 50-yard dash, 100 yard dash or half mile run. Kids enjoy the thrill of victory from completing a fitness goal. Each child receives an event t-shirt and commemorative finisher’s medal. In past years, nearly 300 children have participated in one of the four different distances.

For all of the weekend’s exciting fitness activities, visit www.gostlouis.org.

By Amy Burger, Events Blogger for SmartParenting