MILE DAY - No VA

Tony Nocera is all about fitness.  He knew firsthand that vigorous exercise involving running the mile was a way for his elementary school to raise its school fitness profile.   He started a MILER CLUB 20 years ago.  Kids would train and run the mile and earn tokens each time they dropped time.  At the end of the school year, the TOP 10 Boys and TOP TEN Girls would have a race to determine the best milers in the school.   When Tony and his energetic compatriot PE teacher Suzanne Metz heard about the NATIONAL RUN A MILE DAYS they eagerly signed up their North Springfield Elementary School.

American Running was on hand to help Tony and Suzanne energize their boys and girls to run the mile.   On May 6, Mr Nocera and Ms Metz had convinced every classroom teacher in addition to the PE classes to come out and run the mile.   At the end of the day nearly 500 students from kindergartners to 6th graders ran the mile.  Each boy and girl received a NATIONAL RUN A MILE DAYS completion certificate, a car bumper or window sticker and a well deserved congratulations from their teachers.   The May 6th RUN A MILE DAY event served as the last warmup for the top boys and girls at the school.   May 10 was the big end of year MILER CLUB Event:  the "TOP TEN MILER RACES".

North Springfield's boys and girls are a model school of fitness and running.  Tony Nocera and Suzanne Metz set a standard for all schools in the nation to follow.  They are not a school of privelege or economic clout.   What they have is commitment to bettering their fitness and health through running..........and racing the mile.