All-around workout for running group

WEBUTUCK — Exercise for the body and exercise for the mind: Webutuck’s chapter of The Marathon Project has a little bit for everybody.The Marathon Project is an exercise initiative sponsored and facilitated through the Dutchess County Council on Addiction Prevention and Education (CAPE). Webutuck has participated for four years. Adults are paired up with students ages 12 to 18 to work toward becoming healthier, which includes not only physical exercise but learning to eat better and live a healthier lifestyle.This year’s season started three weeks ago at the end of March, according to CAPE coordinator Samara Kelly, and will continue on a weekly basis until the Hartford Marathon this October. Students involved in the program can enter that event (or others in the area during the season) at their own comfort level. At the end of the season, some runners will attempt a half-marathon while some might even join up and run a relay marathon to finish off the year.Student participation fluctuates; The Marathon Project meets three times a week but students can show up as often as they want. Volunteer Chris Kennan said that in the spring it’s especially hard to get runners because many are already signed up for the school’s track team, which meets at the same time after school.This year 18 students attended the informational meeting at the beginning of the season, and a total of 10 students of varying abilities and experience have attended at least one session. The mentor and mentoree program meets in the senior lounge at Webutuck High School and then heads out to the track behind the school, where runners and walkers can go at their own pace for about an hour before catching the late bus home. Sometimes there are more mentors than students, other times the ratio is reversed.Student Fabian Vega, participating for his first year, has attended all of the meetings and quickly got into the groove on the track.“I like running,” he said with a smile and a shrug, when asked what about the program drew him in.Students got a free Marathon Project T-shirt for participating. In years past, Kelly said, a company was working with CAPE to provide heavily discounted running sneakers for students. The funding for that effort is no longer available this year, she said, but CAPE is hoping to pursue other avenues.And when the weather is rainy, the group stays indoors and gets a healthy dose of nutrition education.“Instead of running we’ll go over healthy eating habits some days,” Kelly explained. “We try to give the students the education to make better lifestyle decisions.”The Marathon Project meets after school from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. No advance notice is required to participate; just show up in halls of Webutuck High School wearing exercise gear.