Van Buren Starts Running Club For Younger Students

Mondays served as a special day for the Van Buren County Cross Country team, as the group created a cross country running club for fourth and fifth graders at Spencer Elementary.

Senior Jed Mooneyham came up with the idea of starting a club to both fulfill a need he saw in the community and as a project to add to his 4-H portfolio. He said the weekly Monday afternoon clubs has been better than he imagined.

“It’s a resource we didn’t have when we were younger,” Mooneyham said. “And I like getting these kids interested at a younger age, because we don’t have that big of a program. But hopefully through this we can grow a little bit and make a good thing out of it.”

At the meetings held on the high school baseball field, each student received a high schooler mentor to work with. Mooneyham said the first few Mondays were about the basics of running, but the club has seen progress already.

“Our first few running clubs, we did about a mile,” Mooneyham said. “And now we’re moving up to two miles, just about a month and a half after starting, so we’re making steady progress. I enjoy seeing all the kids get better over time and they really start enjoying it.”

Mooneyham said at first some of the kids were skeptical and unsure about the club, but has seen the kids start to embrace the sport. Van Buren Cross Country Head Coach Jennifer Mooneyham said besides the running, the kids are enjoying having a high school role model to look up to.

She said the impact this running club has had this fall, has spread to beyond just the elementary students.

“It’s just awesome to see, it warms your heart,” Mooneyham said. “We thought it would be good for the little kids, and I think it’s been as good for the older kids as it has been for the little kids to have someone to look up to. And it’s made them feel good and they’ve all loved the experience.”