Stephen Montoya
Students at Mary Louise Phillips Elementary School felt like they could jump higher and run faster after receiving a free pair of running shoes and socks courtesy of the Cowtown on Wednesday.
This is the 14th year the Cowtown led the charge in this endeavor, called the Children’s Activities for Life & Fitness or C.A.L.F. program. This program was started in 2009 as a way to promote a lifelong love of fitness, and to help tens of thousands of children from area school districts and community centers lace-up and start crossing finish lines. According to the Cowtown Marathon’s website, its staff and volunteers visit approximately 400 schools across North Texas annually, to teach students proper running techniques and living an active lifestyle.
The students who receive these shoes also get the added bonus of entering the Cowtown 5k Marathon at half price.
So why this reoccurring act of kindness?
Well, according to the executive director of the Cowtown, Heidi Swartz, this idea began as an act of kindness on the part of an elementary school coach.
Swartz says a few years back, coaches would have to go into the Cowtown office to turn in their paper entry forms for students to participate in the marathon. The forms would have the names of participants on them and then they would pay the entry fee.
“This coach turned in her team and she handed me her income tax return check,” Swartz says during a phone interview. “When I asked why she did this she said she was doing this because none of her kids could afford to participate, but she wanted them to be outside so they could be healthy and fit.”
Swartz says she gave the check back to the coach and was able to find a sponsor to cover the cost of the kids wanting to participate that year. Since then, the Cowtown has found a way to help alleviate this kind of scenario by streamlining the grant process for schools to receive aid for its students.
“The whole reason we’ve done this is because we want kids to be outside exercising and learn that running can be something that can be enjoyable, not a punishment,” Swartz explains.
Stephen Montoya
Another thing, Swartz says she noticed that same year is what kind of shoes the kids were wearing to participate in the half marathon.
“They were running in canvas shoes with no arch support and flip flops, and boots and just everything under the sun,” she says. “So, we decided that besides supplementing the cost of their entry fee we needed to give them training and a new pair of shoes.”
The way this all works, is a coach from a school will apply for the grant program in the fall and if they are approved then that coach will send in how many kids are in need of shoes. Then the Cowtown will take a trailer to the school and have volunteers size each student’s foot for the right fit.
“Every year I buy about 8,000 pairs of shoes, because we need to have enough in each size quantity to be able to give the kids what they need,” Swartz says. “We’ve given out over 56,000 pairs of shoes and we plan on continuing.”
This year the Cowtown and the Fort Worth Sports Commission won their bid to host the 2023 USA Track and Field Half Marathon Championships at Will Rogers Memorial Center on February 26. Two hundred elite athletes from around the country vying for the Championship title will run the same course as The Cowtown Half Marathon on the same day.
For information on the Cowtown Marathon or the C.A.L.F. Program click here.
