Thompson – On Sunday, March 1, Northeast Opportunities for Wellness, Inc. (NOW) partnered with Tourtellotte Memorial High School’s Track & Field coaches & student athletes for the 5^th Annual Youth Running & Track clinic. 50 children participated in the clinic, learning a variety of skills in track and field events. This clinic is a part of a series of free events hosted by NOW designed to introduce sports and wellness activities to children in the 10-town area of Northeast Connecticut.

First held in March of 2016, the concept behind the annual Running & Track Clinic was to introduce proper form and technique to children interested in running activities. Early on, Tourtellotte’s Track & Field coaches were quick to express interest in partnering with NOW on the clinic, with the goal of promoting the sport to elementary and middle-school aged children. With a program planned by TMHS Coach Beth Ten Eyck, student athletes from the TMHS Track & Field teams led 6 dynamic “skill stations” including: Acceleration Skills, Pacing for Distance, Jumping, Throwing, Relays, and Hurdling. NOW Executive Director Sarah Wolfburg expressed her appreciation for the hard work of the TMHS coaches and students, “This clinic continues to be a success due to the outstanding efforts of Coach Ten Eyck and the talented students of Tourtellotte Memorial High School. Aside from middle school and high school track and cross-country programs, there are not many options for younger children to access proper training for running and track events. We are proud to partner with TMHS to offer this clinic to children in our community, and we hope clinic participants are inspired to continue running.”

A signature element of the clinic is additional skill stations run by NOW staff, focused on nutrition and fitness. For the Running & Track clinic, NOW Programming Coordinator Lindsay Lussier and Wellness Leader Tayler Shea offered a joint fitness and nutrition station which saw participants drilled on their nutrition knowledge and challenged with dynamic body weight exercises.

Additional youth clinics are planned for the remainder of 2020, with registration available on the NOW website. NOW will also host the 9th Annual NOW Road Race & Walk – Powered by Putnam Bank on September 13th. The event will feature a 5K run & walk as well as a Kids Fun Run. More details and registration to come.