As the starting whistle blows on April 26, a beloved principal will run his final 5K with his team, and a fourth grader in a wheelchair will race in his first.
The Let Me Run program was enacted at Campbell Ridge Elementary School in the 2017-2018 school year and is led by principal Anthony Mazzei. It is intended for fourth- and fifth-grade boys.
As Mazzei is set to retire, the color run is his last 5K with the Let Me Run program. It is also the first time a student who uses a wheelchair will participate in the color run through the program.
During a color run, people on the sidelines throw various brightly colored powders at the runners, who are typically wearing white, so they’re ultimately covered in an array of colors.
Mazzei has been the principal at Campbell Ridge Elementary School since it opened its doors in 2005.
The students start their practices with shorter runs as the season starts, leading up to a 5K, which is the Campbell County High School Color Run on April 26. The season is seven weeks long, with two meetings each week.
Fifth grader Mason Thacker is in his first year of Let Me Run.
“I get to be appreciated for what I do,” Mason said. “I don’t get called slow and all of that, because it’s a team effort. It’s my first year of doing it, and it’s the last year of coach Mazzei doing it, so I’m really happy that I can do it with him.”
While the season is preparing the boys for the 5K run, Mazzei said the ultimate program goal is to help the boys become men.
“At this age, they are right on the cusp of adolescence,” Mazzei said. “So, we talk about what Let Me Run calls ‘the boy code.’ About how we’re brought up to believe you shouldn’t cry. You’ve got to be tough. You can’t talk about emotion. All of our lessons are designed to kind of address that and try to break that down and get them to be young men who will talk about emotions, who will say how they feel.”
Fourth grader Johnny Harrison has been part of the Let Me Run team for just a few weeks.
“It’s just kind of nice to hang out, also get a strong workout on your muscles,” Johnny said. “That’s really important to get your body healthy.”
Mazzei thinks Johnny’s 5k finish will be a tearjerker. He has seen Johnny’s attendance and overall demeanor change through participating in Let Me Run.
“He told me that one practice this is the first time he’s done a sport, done this kind of a thing, or been on a team,” Mazzei said.
Johnny said he has never done anything like a 5K before and is most looking forward to trying his best during the race.
Each practice starts with a snack and the first part of a lesson called “Words to Live By.” There is a quote of the day, and as the boys head outside to do a group run around the bus loop, they will discuss that quote. They do group stretches, and each lesson has varying run times.
After the boys complete their run, they come back inside and do stretches. Then, they sit in a circle and discuss their quote. This time, the quote of the day was, “Time lost cannot be found.”
The session then moved into a lesson on screen time. Mazzei read statements to the boys to get them thinking about their daily habits with screens. If they agreed, they would stand up; if they disagreed, they would stay seated. Statements ranged from “I always feel better after screen time” to “I have more screen time on the weekends than on school days.”
They went around in a circle and talked about the different ways to consume screen time, such as playing video games or watching a movie. Then they talked about things they can do instead of screen time, like going outside, reading and building LEGO.
At the end of each practice, each boy passes their booklets around the circle and writes a note of positivity to their peers.
Fourth grader Seth Smith is in his first season of Let Me Run. He said what he likes most about the program is having a team that supports him no matter what. Seth said he is looking forward to the 5K run.
“[I’m most excited to] see my mom smile at me, to see how much hard work I’ve done,” he said.
Fourth grader Brody Vance is in his second season of the program. He said his favorite part of Let Me Run is making friends and talking to other people. Brody said with the 5K, he is most looking forward to running farther than he has before.
“The goal is to just keep moving forward,” Mazzei said. “We do time them a couple of points throughout the season, because at the end of the season, we want to be able to talk about growth and improvement and effort, but we’re not timing these runs [for competitive purposes.]”
The boys do a final mile run at the last practice and set a 5k goal.
Fifth grader Ian Weinel has been a part of Let Me Run for four seasons. He likes the program because you can run with your teammates and do stuff around the school for others. Ian said he is most looking forward to the 5k because his aunt is running with him, and he wants to get hit by the color.
Fifth grader Jackson Rawe has participated in Let Me Run since fourth grade. He said he was looking forward to trying to beat his time in the color run.
“We get to work with our team and try harder to get better at running so we can persevere during our 5k at the end of the year,” Jackson said.
Fourth grader Jacob Williams is in his second season of Let Me Run and plans to do it again as a fifth grader.
“I like that I can show that I’m able to persevere and run my hardest,” Jacob said. “I like that I have a team that supports and helps everybody grow as a better runner and just a better person in general.”
