Tiki Barber, who was a great running back for the New York Giants, and Jenny Simpson, who represented USA at the last three summer Olympics, graced the PS 676 gym floor on January 29.
The New York Road Runners and New Balance partnered to give away brand new running sneakers to the 100 kids in grades 1-5. The Road Runners had been in touch with the school ahead of time to get the age, name and shoe size of the kids as well as back up sizes in case a shoe size had changed.
The New York Road Runners (NYRR) has been partnering with schools for 20 years and this is the site where their outreach first began in 1999. A staff member from the school, then known as PS 27, reached out and a partnership was formed.
Rising New York Road Runners started their partnership with PS 676 at the beginning of this school year.
This Rising New York Road Runners program offers free youth running programs and is designed to get kids moving and foster a love for physical fitness.
Rising New York Road Runners staff started the event at 10:10 and at 10:20 they distributed the sneakers to the kids with assistance from Barber and Simpson.
The kids very much enjoyed receiving their new sneakers as they all screamed in anticipation when they were asked about the sneakers by Road Runners staff.
They tried out the sneakers in drills and relay races.
Simpson, a former American record holder for the 3,000 meters steeplechase who won a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships, addressed the kids telling them the advantages of running and how she started in a similar situation that they are in.
“Twenty years ago, I was one of you guys,” Simpson, who is sponsored by New Balance, said. “I was sitting on the floor of a gym in a public-school running program. That is how I learned about running. I took away not just taking care of my body and learning how to be active, but my favorite thing about sports is how many teammates I’ve had over the years.”
Simpson emphasized how running can take you all over the world as it has for her. Simpson has competed internationally in countries such as Belgium, France, China, Germany and South Korea, and added that running is a key skill in participating in other sports.
Tuesday’s event was a landmark one for NYRR as Simpson handed out the 20,000th pair of shoes distributed by NYRR to children since 2007.
Barber, who holds 22 Giants franchise records and made the Pro Bowl three times in his 10-year career, told them that anyone who is 11 would have been alive when he was a Giant.
Following retirement, Barber has fostered a passion for running. He has been an ambassador for the New York Road Runners sponsored Team for Kids for a few years, which is how he came to the event. Team for Kids fundraises for the NYRR youth programs.
“Chris and the team over at NYRR asked me to come take part in this and I said of course,” Barber, who was at his first event like this one, said. “I love kids and I love encouraging kids to live an active lifestyle. We are giving them free shoes, which is great.”
“I definitely will do more events like this,” Barber said. “As long as NYRR keeps partnering with New Balance and great schools like PS 27, I definitely will.”
Barber loved sports, including gym class, when he was a kid and liked the benefits sports taught him.
“I loved to run,” Barber said. “I was always fast. That’s how I was able to develop into a good student and good athlete. It was by being aggressive in everything I did.”
He couldn’t wait for the kids to get their new New Balance sneakers as that brand has helped him get through many marathons.
“I’m so excited for you to get these new shoes on behalf of New Balance,” Barber said. “I have New Balance on now. They have taken care of me in the five marathons I have run in NYC.”
“Running is such a singular but also a very collective endeavor, which I’m sure you guys will experience,” Barber said.
“New York Road Runners’ youth programs and offerings create access to the necessary tools for our participants to lead healthy and active lives, while engaging in fun and exciting activities with their coaches and teammates,” Rachel Pratt, the senior VP of youth and community services at NYRR. “Our primary goals is not to create the fastest runners, but to help our participants develop physically, emotionally and socially.”
NYRR also conducts about 70 free youth events for participating schools like PS 676. Various places that the bring kids to include ICAHN Stadium on Randalls Island, the Armory on 178th Street in Manhattan, the Coney Island Boardwalk for the Brooklyn Half and a run in Times Square before the NYC Half.
“We send staff to get the kids, so we give them transportation and lunch,” Pratt said. “The schools do not have to provide Metrocards, it is all free.”
Speed walking
PS 676 kids initially formed a massive circle in the gym to get ready for the activities. Once the circle was formed, the kids participated in a speed walking game where if they got tagged, they had to do 10 jumping jacks.
Barber, who is 43, initially got into running when Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia and his wife Amber asked him to run for their charity back in 2014. He has kept up his running since then.
It took the former short distance runner two years to learn how to be a distance runner, but he now runs for fun. In addition to his five consecutive NYC Marathons he has completed the Big Sur (California), Jerusalem, Boston and New Jersey Marathon and is slated to do the Paris Marathon in April.
Simpson, who is 32, tries to do three to four events a year with the kids involved in the Rising New York Road Runners.
The accomplished track star enjoys the opportunity to work with kids and especially liked her time with PS 676 students.
“It is so much fun because you see their young bright faces and you know that their future is so full of awesome things,” Simpson said. “Being a person that can be here to inspire them is really satisfying for me.”
“It was great,” Barber said when asked about interacting with the PS 676 kids. “They are crazy, they are excited, they have a lot of energy to burn but that is exactly why you have gym programs and Rising NYRR programs like this.”
The Road Runners is not training their kids for a specific race or solely focusing on running as there is a much larger goal involved.
According to Pratt, the running and games are designed to be an outlet to increase their fundamental movement skills. The goal is to have these kids continue to be active for the rest of their life by starting them at an early age.
Barber, who lives in New Jersey, thinks it is of utmost importance to emphasize running and being active since it is beneficial when these kids are in elementary school but also for the rest of their lives.
“If you teach them early about the power of exercise, then they can live a healthy lifestyle their whole life.”
Rising New York Runners serves 125,000 kids across New York City, and a total of 250,000 kids ages 2-18 in 48 states and Washington, DC.
