Longhorn running club draws 53 youths this year

The Longhorn Running Club just finished its second year.
The club was started by Abby Cyboron in March 2018.
Cyboron and her family lived in Kearney before moving to Imperial.
While in Kearney, she worked with the PTO. The organization received grants to start healthy programs with elementary students, which was how the elementary school running clubs began.
    Cyboron based the running club here on what was done in Kearney.
“It was such a positive, healthy activity,” Cyboron said. “Even the parents would join in with their kids, so it was good for parents and their kids.
“There are so many kids dropped off at school a little early or sometimes they hang out after school with nothing to do,” Cyboron added.
“Anyone can do it. This is just another activity to keep the kids busy and give them a goal to work towards.”
Cyboron said a number of the youths have really taken to the program.
“Their parents have come to me and said that they absolutely love it,” she said. “Their kid wasn’t into the other sports that were going on and this gave them something else to do and they have loved it.”
Instead of doing the program in the spring, Cyboron organized it in the fall this year, with youths starting on Sept. 10 and ending Nov. 1.
Once miles were tallied, individuals who reached the equivalent of a half marathon received a T-shirt, while those who made a full marathon received a medal.
Students could walk or run their miles.
Since the club battled the temperatures of fall, some days were spent running on the indoor track.
This year there were 53 total participants, with 31 half-marathon finishers and 14 full-marathon finishers.
The CCS PTO paid for the t-shirts and medals.