More than 30 students from Renbrook School in West Hartford were among the nearly 800 students from throughout Connecticut who participated in the event.

Submitted

Students from West Hartford’s Renbrook School have been running and training for six weeks as part of the Hartford Marathon Foundation (HMF) FitKids in School program. The initiative provides support and age-appropriate training guides for students to run a cumulative 26.2 miles, the distance of a marathon, over six weeks in school.

On Tuesday, May 16, more than 30 Renbrook students joined almost 800 students from across the state participated in the culminating “Final Mile” event, produced by HMF at Walnut Hill Park in New Britain. The race and celebration included music, cheering spectators and fitness activities as well as providing commemorative finisher medals, t-shirts and healthy snacks for students.

The program is provided free to all participating schools, made possible through public donations and contributions from sponsors including Aetna Foundation and the United Bank Foundation of Connecticut. This is the second year of the spring program in New Britain’s Walnut Hill Park, the next event will be held at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Nov. 2, 2017.

HMF is fully committed to helping school children develop a healthy, active lifestyle. More than 2,400 students participated in HMF FitKids in School programs in 2016.