The spirited, high-energy HF-L Fall Weekend is upon us. Excitedly, for children and parents, with it comes that running classic, the Youth Trophy Cup Runs. It features eight age-group races exclusive to children ages five to twelve who live in the HF-L school district. The event is HF-L Community Program’s youth running festival.
The 21st running of the event will be on Sunday, October 8th. All races start near the auditorium end of the Middle School. Local, long-time sponsors are Edward Jones, Honeoye Falls Market-Place, M&T Bank, Molye Chevrolet and Salvatore’s Old Fashioned Pizzeria.
Registration for the Youth Trophy Cup Runs is online at the “Community Programs” link found at www.hflcsd.org, or on race day, at the event beginning 12:15 pm. The entry fee is $6 for ages 5 & 6, $9 for ages 7 to12. The first race, for five-year olds, starts at 1:00.
Characteristic to the event is the unforgettable finish shoot with flags waving, balloons adrift and, every racers goal — that finish-line tape. Heightening the excitement are the grand, glimmering trophy cups, with names engraved of past years race winners, medallions, participant ribbons, podium photo ops and plenty of food to re-energize — free pizza, apples and water. But most of all, there is great camaraderie and friendly competition among schoolmates.
According to sports psychologist and writer Amanda Hills, if children enjoy exercise when they’re young it sets them up for life. ‘Children often end up associating exercise with PE classes, which they might not enjoy, so they need to be given opportunities to find a form of exercise they love,’ she says. This was reported in The Telegraph, a United Kingdom publication.
Health.com also had some things to say on the topic. “Running by itself sometimes gets a bad rap because people worry that it’s too much stress,” says Dr. Mark Halstead, a pediatric sports medicine specialist at Washington University, in St. Louis. “But then you have kids 3 and 4 years old out on the soccer field taking soccer lessons.” In their play, children are running nearly all the time. It doesn’t take much encouragement. It’s often difficult to get children to stop running. Ask any pool lifeguard.
Plus, running can offer something to kids — especially kids who aren’t athletically inclined or who are overweight — that a lot of other sports can’t: The chance to be physically active at their own pace.
“Team sports, especially youth sports in the last five or ten years, tend to be highly competitive,” Dr. Halstead says. “With running, you can make it as intense or as casual as you want. Runners of all ages, in fact, embrace the sport for its accessibility and relatively low price tag: Instead of having to learn complicated rules or buy lots of expensive equipment, all you really need to get started is a good pair of shoes and a desire to put one foot in front of the other.”
