Less thumbs, more legs.
That’s the core creed of the Nocatee Healthy Kids Running Series, a burgeoning local chapter of a national nonprofit organization that pries kids from their devices and gets them on the road.
Spearheaded by two local couples, Andrea and John Richardson and Bryan and Amanda Taylor, Nocatee HKRS offers two separate programs in the spring and fall for kids in kindergarten through the 8th grade.
“We have found so much joy in our life through running and exercising in general,” Andrea told The Citizen. “We want kids to know that same joy that we and other families have. Families come to Nocatee from all over the country to do something healthy and community-involved.”
Andrea who ran track at the University of Kentucky, along with her husband, said that running is often misperceived as a tedious labor rather than a vehicle for exhilaration and uplift.
Kids, she noted, rarely run if the activities aren’t couched in organized sports like soccer or football.
Th local real estate agent and Ponte Vedra Beach resident said she wants to disrupt that convention.
The spring and fall programs each run for five-weeks, where events are tailored to both age and ability.
The youngest participants run 50-yard dashes, while older kids pace themselves for more demanding one-mile trots.
No matter the format, Richardson said, kids rejoice at improving their times and conquering distances once thought impossible. Self-esteem, she said, ticks up with every step.
“We sometimes see exercise as this hard and difficult thing,” she said. “But this is the opposite. It’s fun, it’s something you can do with your whole family.”
Trading musty bedrooms for fresh Florida air, runners gather at the Nocatee Community Fields and take part in dynamic warm up exercises before getting their wheels churning.
Kids not only build strength, endurance, and coordination but are also introduced to the virtues of goal-setting, self-discipline, and resilience.
These are traits, Richardson stressed, that will illuminate their path well after 8th grade graduation.
The final ceremony serves as an exuberant celebration, where every child is recognized with medals and certificates, while trophies are bestowed to top performers.
In the end, Richardson said, the program is less about stop watches than a celebration of youth — and the vast potential that comes with it if properly harnessed.
