HOOVER – Greystone Elementary School will once again have an impressive contingent of participants in the Kids Mercedes Marathon on Saturday, Feb. 11.

GES has participated in the program since 2003, according to physical education teacher Leta Hoit, and averages about 130 runners a year, including 127 this year.

The Kids Marathon is a five-month endurance building running/walking program designed for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Students run the distance of a marathon, 26.2 miles, between September and January.

GES students run in PE classes and track their progress on log sheets.

Then, the students run the final mile of the program on Feb. 11 in downtown Birmingham as part of the actual Mercedes Marathon race course.

PE teachers Hoit and Rand Payton along with several Greystone teachers and staff will be along the course cheering for all of the runners, Hoit said.

“Our goal for the Kids Mercedes Marathon is to get children more active through running as well as teaching fitness habits that will last them a lifetime,” Hoit said.

GES fifth grader Camden Spadoni has participated in the program each of her years at the school.

“Everybody gets a chance to run and a chance to stay healthy, and at the end they get a medal to show they’ve accomplished what they’ve been doing,” Spadoni said.

Caitlin Cantu, a third grader, said she would encourage any of her classmates to participate in the Kids Mercedes Marathon program.

“It’s a great way to exercise,” Cantu said. “It’s just really fun.”