Running Toward Healthy Habits
Getting regular physical activity can seem like a daunting task. But sometimes, all you have to do is begin going through the motions - and before you know it, regular exercise has become a new habit.
This is what Dan Hatfield discovered when he developed a running club for middle school students whose health may be at risk. When he first started the program, Hatfield's students exhibited little confidence in their ability to run more than a couple of hundred yards.
Now, twice a week at 12:30, they run - in the school parking lot, in the adjacent field, in the halls of the school. Sun, rain, or snow, these kids keep running. Within two months, they cut 5 minutes off their average mile. Kids who couldn’t run 200 yards aim now for 2 miles.
“It’s been great what it suggests physiologically, but in terms of character building, it’s just as powerful,’’ Hatfield said.
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