Seymour Elementary School was recently awarded the title of Fittest School in Sevier County through the Covenant Kids Run Fittest School Challenge.
Schools registered teams for the Covenant Kids Run, a one-mile event that begins at the World’s Fair Park and ends on the 50-yard line at Neyland Stadium as part of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon race events that took place April 2-3. The schools with the highest percentage of total student participation won prizes and the title of Fittest School.
The Knoxville Track Club and Knoxville Area Coalition on Childhood Obesity give the top school in each participating county a Fittest School plaque and a $250 donation to benefit the school’s physical education program.
“By providing some friendly competition between schools, the Fittest School Challenge is a great chance for kids to get excited about exercising while focusing on a common goal of achieving the title of Fittest School,” said Beth LaFontaine of Covenant Health. “The goal of the challenge and the Covenant Kids Run is for East Tennessee youth to learn fitness skills at an early age that they can use to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives.”
The Covenant Kids Run Fittest School Challenge provides schools with training and exercise tools tailored specifically for children. Students train for a total of 25.2 miles, tracking their progress in a logbook, before the final race on April 2. On race day, students completed the one-mile Covenant Kids Run to raise their total mileage to 26.2, the distance of a full marathon.
A total of eight elementary and intermediate schools from counties across East Tennessee were given the title of Fittest School. Other winning schools by county are:
- Anderson: Clinton Elementary School
- Blount: Foothills Elementary School
- Hamblen: Witt Elementary School
- Jefferson: New Market Elementary School
- Knox: Bluegrass Elementary School
- Loudon: Eaton Elementary School
- Roane: Kingston Elementary School
