Walking into the cafeteria at Creeds Elementary School, there was no denying a special celebration was at hand. The stage overlooking the massive room held tables with shamrock table cloths weighed down with pots of golden coin candies, and dozens of students were anxiously awaiting a promised reward – the brass ring of almost any elementary school student: pizza.
It was well earned.
The celebration was for the 80 students who participated in the 2014 Operation Smile Shamrock Final Mile, a one-mile race held the Saturday of the Shamrock Sportsfest weekend for children to run to help raise funds for Operation Smile.
Perhaps it was the chance to do some good, or maybe just the opportunity to earn a first medal, but Creeds saw a massive jump in runners for this year’s race.
Last year, the school had just six runners participate. This year, that number increased 13 times over. It’s an impressive feat considering Creeds, as an entire school, has a total of right around 300 students.
“We had a lot of help. Everyone gave a little something to the cause,” Chris Lille, physical education teacher at Creeds Elementary said. “The students really got behind it and the excitement just snowballed…(it) has already inspired other students that didn’t sign up this year.”
Robin Davenport, principal of Creeds Elementary, said the coolest part of the experience came on race day as he watched dozens of his students take to the start line in their matching, camoflouge t-shirts, then take off together.
“It was nice,” Davenport said. “Our t-shirts stood out (in the crowd of runners). It was such a neat thing.”
Participation in the annual race is not a new trend. For years, Virginia Beach students have come out in full force to take part in the Final Mile.
This year was no exception.
According to J&A Racing, the company in charge of the Shamrock races, 4,628 registrants representing 277 schools from all over Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region participated in this year’s race. 3,446 of those students – 74.46 percent – were from Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Not to mention, 50 of the 56 Virginia Beach elementary schools had at least three students participate.
Three Oaks Elementary led the way with the highest number of students participate (301 students) as well as having the highest percentage of combined Final Mile/8k participation among Virginia Beach elementary schools (47.6 percent).
For Three Oaks, running in the Final Mile has become something of a school tradition. Again, staff there say it’s the work of the whole building that made this year such a success.
“The whole school truly gets behind it,” said Nicholas Jensen, physical education teacher at Three Oaks Elementary. “That’s really what our success is from. We have a set of teachers run with kids after school…It’s an amazing thing to see when all the faculty and all the staff and the community gets involved in a fitness program.”
To see how Creeds, Three Oaks, Alanton, and many other schools got ready for and took part in this year’s race, visit our Facebook page.
For more information about the Operation Smile Shamrock Final Mile or how you can help at your child’s school, talk to your school administrator or visit http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/final-mile/
I’m the parent of two boys at Creeds and I just wanted to thank the P.E. Department for helping my boys achieve a goal! My oldest son, Jackson, has hypotonic CP. With the encouragement of Mr. Lillie and the support of Mrs. Simpson, Jackson finished the race. As a mother I was nervous about his ability, but he did it! He finished with his brother Patrick and Mrs. Simpson at his side. I don’t think we could have been any prouder as we cheered him on in tears of joy! Jackson can’t wait to do it again!!
I just want to thank Mr. Lillie and Mrs. Simpson for their support at the Shamrock Final Mile. I’m the parent of two boys at creeds. Our oldest son, Jackson, has hypotonic CP. When he came home asking to do the race, I was worried he won’t be able to do it. He joined the running club with his brother Patrick and they practiced every week. On race day, Patrick, Jackson and Mrs. Simpson finished the race to a group of screaming fans with tears of joy. Jackson couldn’t gave been happier!