Oct. 3, 2007

LOS ANGELES - On Saturday, Oct. 13 at 10 a.m., approximately 5,000 children will begin their goal of running or walking a distance of a marathon over the next six months in the Marathon Kids Kick-Off at UCLA's Drake Stadium.

During the six-month period, children accompanied by their parents will run or walk at ¼ to ½ mile segments towards their goal of the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. The program concludes with the Final Mile Medal celebration at Drake Stadium on Saturday, Mar. 1. Along with the running, Marathon Kids will eat five-a-day fruits and vegetables for 26.2 days a month as part of a nutrition program. Approximately 10,000 Los Angeles-area children are registered for this year's event.

At the Kick-Off celebration, UCLA student-athletes will run with the children and sign autographs. Also participating in the opening ceremonial lap is women's track and field head coach Jeanette Bolden.

In its second year in Los Angeles, Marathon Kids is a free program open to all groups of children who are in the kindergarten to fifth-grade school range in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Redondo Beach and Long Beach school districts, as well as private schools and home schoolers. The program targets children who are most vulnerable to childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes, African-American and Hispanic children.

Marathon Kids is an 11-year-old non-profit organization, with over 123,000 children taking part in the program nationwide. Birthed as a grassroots initiative, it now holds events in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Maryland and four Texas cities, Houston, Austin, Harlingen and Dallas. The next city on tap is Chicago, set to launch in 2008-09. There are 294 towns and cities on the Marathon Kids waiting list, as well as 14 foreign countries.

For more information on Marathon Kids, log on to www.marathonkids.org.