Marine Corps Marathon to Present Award to Alexandria School This Week – James K. Polk Elementary is One of Five to Receive Healthy School Honor

QUANTICO, Va. – The students at James K. Polk Elementary School in Alexandria, VA are in for a thrill this week when the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) and U.S. Marines arrive on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 to present MCM's Healthy School Award.

The Healthy School Award is presented each year to the elementary schools that garner the most student participation in the Healthy Kids Fun Run, organized by the MCM.

The award assembly will start at 10 a.m. in the James K. Polk gymnasium located at 5000 Polk Ave., in Alexandria. Amid the excitement, MCM Race Director Rick Nealis will introduce MCM mascot Miles the Bulldog and a group of U.S. Marines who will engage the students in a healthy round of military PT exercises.

As part of the Healthy School Award, MCM partner Sodexo will present a check for $1,000 to the school and will distribute healthy snacks to all students. In addition, James Polk students will participate in the National Children's Museum "Museum Without Walls" program. Sodexo and the National Children's Museum are supporters of the MCM's Healthy Kids Fun Run held annually the day before the MCM.

James K. Polk Elementary registered 133 students for the Healthy Kids Fun Run held in the Pentagon North parking lot in Arlington, VA on Oct. 30, 2010. Nearly 3,000 students from 747 schools from across the United States participated in the event.

James K. Polk is one of five elementary schools that will receive the Healthy School Award during assemblies in February and March..

Additional award assemblies will be held on these dates:
February 24 – William Ramsay Elementary
February 28 – Elizabeth Vaughan Elementary
March 2 – Lynbrook Elementary
March 10 – George Mason Elementary

The Marine Corps Marathon Healthy Kids Fun Run is hosted annually by the Marine Corps Marathon. The 2011 Healthy Kids Fun Run will be held on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Arlington, VA.

Online registration will open March 9 at www.marinemarathon.com.

About the MCM: Voted the best marathon for families, the Marine Corps Marathon honors the dedication, sportsmanship and patriotism of its participants. Runners from all walks of life participate in the largest marathon not to offer prize money, earning the name, "The People's Marathon." The MCM is the fifth largest marathon in the United States and the ninth largest in the world. The 36th MCM will be held on October 30, in Arlington, VA. No federal or Marine Corps endorsement is implied.