Fitness University Sets Kids on Track For Healthy Living

It might be the cutest thing you've ever seen.

The tiny legs of 3-year-olds jogging around an eight-lane, quarter-mile track, 8-year-olds barreling around cones, 11-year-olds pushing each other across the field wheel-barrow style. All of these things are part of an eight-week Tuesday night series of clinics call Fitness University.

Run by husband and wife team Trevor and Leeann Ward for the last seven years, Fitness University was developed by the Gate City Striders in 1989 as a way to promote physical fitness, fun and good health.

The Gate City Striders is a social club of runners from Southern New Hampshire and beyond, some of whom run competitively and some recreationally. Fitness University is sponsored by Southern New Hampshire Medical Center and therefore offered for free to any youth in the area who wish to participate.

On Tuesday, approximately 400 children swarmed the Merrimack High School track, with their parents and some of their younger siblings in tow, for one session of Fitness U. 

Each clinic starts with warm ups and stretching and then the volunteers run drills with the kids in their age groups. Parents say their children look forward to Fitness U week after week, season after season.

It is a family affair for Merrimack native Kerry Crowe, her kids and their cousins who come to Fitness University year after year. It started with her 16-year-old nephew 12 years ago. And since then, they have returned for more fun, fitness and education.

Crowe watched as her 4-year-old daughter Madison crawled her way through a tunnel set up as part of an obstacle course designed for the younger participants. Madison's brother was in racing through his own activities while her sister worked as a volunteer on the field. Three of her cousins were also there running drills.

"There are a lot of us here," Crowe said. "We fan out."

Crowe said the program is coordinated extraordinarily well and the kids have so much fun, they look forward to going to the clinics every week. 

"The volunteers are just wonderful," Crowe said.

Over in the 5-year-old age group, one of the largest, according to Leeann Ward, Tierney Sarcia's daughter Shealyn was racing across the field, baton in her outstretched hand.

"We did it last year, we loved it," Sarcia, a Merrimack resident, said. "We actually volunteered at the finals last year."

Each year, at the end of the eight clinics, there is a finals event, where the children and families gather for a Saturday morning special event with races, medals for all the participants, healthy snacks, loads of giveaways and a guest speaker. This year's speaker will be U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, of Nashua.

Fitness University has grown from 50-60 kids per clinic when the Wards took the helm, to about 400 children per session this year, Leeann Ward said

"I love kids," Ward said. "I see the kids smile and it's just rewarding."

Ward said the goal of the program is to provide a safe, fun place where kids can learn about fitness, exercise and healthy living.

"What they learn here, it can last them forever," Ward said.

And for many of the kids, what they learn there and the environment of Fitness U brings them back even when they have outgrown the program. They come back as teenagers and young adults to join Ward's "wonderful group of volunteers."

"It's just a lot of fun," Ward said. "It's a great program and it's free."

Though she and her husband truly enjoy the program, the kids and the families who get involved, Ward said she and her husband Trevor are hoping to take a step back next year, and leave the program in the hands of a couple other capable Striders.

She said they hope to find a couple people to step up to be mentored by herself and Trevor and take over direction of the program.

"They (the Wards) will be sorely missed," said Kathie Morin, the age group leader for the 8-year-olds, 

Morin said she started volunteering three years ago when her son was in the 8-year-old bracket. Now 10, he still participates, and Morin's daughter Melissa, 21, participates as a volunteer. If the Wards leave the program next year, she said, it will leave a mark.

"The do an unbelievably great job," she said. "They've made this program what it is."

Fitness University runs every Tuesday through  July 19, from 6-7:30 p.m. at various tracks around the Nashua region. It is open to any child who wants to participate and more information can be found at the Gate City Striders website. Finals day will be July 23 from 9 a.m.-noon.

Check back this afternoon for a photo gallery from Tuesday's Fitness University at Merrimack High School.