HALIFAX — When about 3,000 children burst through the starting gates of a 4.2-kilometre run in Halifax on Saturday, running guru John Stanton was watching and feeling hopeful.
Some children as young as four were mixed with parents and grandparents in the mass start.
Mass participation in events like the Halifax Blue Nose youth run — and like the Dawe/St. Pat’s Run in Red Deer every autumn — could become important weapons in the battle against childhood obesity, he said in an interview after the event.
“You can’t solve the childhood obesity problem with just messaging of kids. We’ve got to message family units to get this problem solved and this is encouraging that,” he said.
Over the last 30 years, the number of obese children has almost tripled in Canada. In 1970, about one in 10 children was obese.
Today, it is one in four.
Stanton, 63, says the Halifax event — which in eight years has grown into one of the largest youth running events in the country — is part of a trend of events aimed at getting young people onto the streets.
Stanton noted the Sun Run in Vancouver has become a major event for families, with up to 50,000 participants in a walk and run.
He said similar youth events to Halifax’s are being held in Manitoba, Edmonton and the Kelowna, B.C., where organizers combine the youth runs with half marathons and marathons on the same weekend.
The format encourages young people from Grades 3 to 9 to train in the leadup to the event, building fitness and creating the jogging habit at schools throughout the province.
Some of the children run 38 km prior to the event in school running clubs, allowing them to claim they’ve run a full marathon when they complete the Halifax race.
Gerry Walsh, the Halifax event’s chairman and co-founder, said when the event was started by Doctors Nova Scotia there were about 700 kids, and it has quadrupled in size.
“We have nothing definitive to show this is making Nova Scotians healthier, but intuitively I’d say it can make things better,” he said.
Sunday is the Blue Nose marathon, half marathon, 10 km and 5 km runs.
Walsh estimated that about 7,000 runners will participate — about 1,000 more than last year.
After the kid’s run, Stanton stood taking questions from kids who attended a seminar.
Todd MacDonald, 10, was among the young runners who lined up to talk to Stanton after the race.
He’s been training in a school running club with his sisters since before Christmas. It’s his second year in the Bluenose.
The moment of the start is the thrill that makes it worthwhile, he said.
“It’s exciting and it’s scary all at the same time,” he said.