LYNN — Although summer is winding down, that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. Even more fun is coming in the form of the second annual Elementary School Cross Country Series put together by Joe Abelon and sponsored by Lynn Parks and Recreation.
The cross country program will begin Saturday, Sept. 10, at Frey Park on Walnut Street and run each Saturday at 10 a.m. until Oct. 8.
It’s open to children throughout the North Shore from grades Pre-K to fifth, and not only is it free to sign up, but it offers children a chance to test their limits and learn more about the sport that is cross country.
Each week participants will be computer timed in the event they choose to run. There are four races, a girls and boys 0.67 mile course and a boys and girls 1.29 mile course — participants can even choose to run both races.
While the program may see some experienced runners that come from youth running clubs, Abelon explained that a significant aspect of this series is to coach and help train younger runners who are new to the sport.
“Mostly kids show up, and they have no idea what it is about, and so our job in training them is basically to let them have fun competing, but we want them to run it, so they are successful,” said Abelon.
“To me, in this point of their stage when they are first exposed to it — to be successful is, you can complete the distance without walking,” he explained.
One of the biggest drawing points to this program for Abelon is that participants will be introduced to a sport that is open to everyone and is not roster-limited like other sports when kids get into middle school or high school.
“They have an introduction to an activity that they all can get involved in because most organized middle school and high school sports are roster-limited, and in some cases, even if you make the roster, you might not get much playing time,” said Abelon.
“In track and field and cross country, most of these schools it is not roster-limited. I am co-director of the Massachusetts Elementary and Middle School Cross Country Championships, and we have middle schools that come down with 70 kids per gender — that says how many kids are involved in the program because you do not have to sit on the bench,” he continued.
Abelon says participants can look forward to seeing improvement from week to week with the program, which will keep kids coming back.
“They will like it once they have success in it; that is what I noticed from last year. The kids came back, and they found out they could run further without walking, and then they found out their times improved, so that is all rewarding to them. I can see that in their eyes, and you can tell they keep coming back and looking for more,” said Abelon.
For more information and to register for the program, head over to https://lynnma.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29847.
Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
