Students get taste of Gasparilla marathon

Today's Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance Classic marathon in downtown Tampa will include more than a handful of Pasco County middle-schoolers.

The runners are part of the 70-member running club at John Long Middle School. Of those members, 29 will run the last two miles of the 26.2-mile race.

The kids love their running, but they also are going to get some running shoes, T-shirts and medals as part of Nike's Let Me Play program. Sponsoring the groups is Teresa Cowart, a social studies teacher at the middle school.

"We had 54 last year and 10 just tagging for Gasparilla," Cowart said. "We have 29 going to Gasparilla this year. We have 70 total, and I split them up into two sessions. The kids will run 24 miles at John Long Middle School over a couple of months.

"(Today), they will join the Gasparilla Marathon with the marathoners. They finish the last two miles of the marathon. The kids will start at Bayshore and Bay-to-Bay, which is mile 24 of the race."

Nike is providing the goodies for the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.

"It is cost-free to the kids," Cowart said.

The John Long runners were to run in 2009, but rain forced them to remain enthusiastic spectators. Despite the change in plans, the kids made the best of it.

"Last year, we weren't able to run because of the weather," Cowart said. "They absolutely loved it, even after they knew they weren't going to run. They stood out and cheered. They really liked it."

The marathoners enjoy seeing the students cheering and then running with them.

"The runners themselves are excited about having them out there," Cowart said. "There are about 500 kids in the area that will be part of the Nike program. They see a wall of kids in white shoes. It makes them keep going. The marathoners are extremely excited to see them."

Cowart said the runners in the club participate for the joy of it. Some walk, but many will run for miles. The kids meet twice a week for an hour. Some of them will run 4 miles.

"We have an amazing group of kids," Cowart said. "I have had some kids sign up for both sessions. We start in September and end it in March. This is the third year of the club. During the first year, we had 30 runners. Last year, the second year, we had 54 and then this year, we had 70."

Cowart has help from Chris Loth, a teacher at John Long, who is also the head coach of the Wiregrass Ranch High boys cross country team. Some of the members of the runners club now run for the high school team. In addition to Loth, Jennifer Finkel and Becky Jenkins help as well.

It might not be a coincidence that the Wiregrass boys and girls cross country teams won the Sunshine Athletic Conference in 2009, and it looks like they will be among Pasco County's best teams for years to come.

Two of the John Long running club members who have moved on to the Wiregrass team are Tyler Mattera and David Hall.

Ariel Grey, a two-time Sunshine Athletic Conference Runner of the Year, didn't run in the club, but her mother Lisa helps the group.

Cowart fled the frozen north and enjoys running in the Sunshine State. The Duluth, Minn., native ran cross country in middle school and ran the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth last June. She is an assistant coach with Team In Training and has run several half marathons. She was scheduled to run the Gasparilla 5K on Saturday.

Cowart admires the way her students are approaching pounding the pavement.

"These kids work hard," she said. "They are out there and they love it. I have kids that get out there and ask, 'Can we run more?' It's great to see middle school kids doing this."