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"Count us in on
your 18-day journey! Our kids love to run and the challenge
would add
new interest to our existing program.
We look forward to joining you!"
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"Our 3rd grade team would love to join you in your 2008
challenge.
We will be introducing your life to our students and use
your story to inspire
our young ones on the importance of fitness and living a
healthy lifestyle."
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"Thanks so much for putting together such a wonderful
site for the kids. Our 3rd and 4th graders are excited
to be a part of it all.
Thanks for all your hard work!"
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"I am going to sign up all of my PE classes!! I'm
definitely going to share your site with the other PE
teachers in my school district."
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Press Release
- For Immediate
Distribution -
RUNNER TO RACE KIDS ACROSS MONTANA
 One man pushing
a jogging stroller of gear will attempt a 620-mile solo run
across the state of Montana during the Spring of 2008. Paul
Staso accomplished a 3,260-mile solo run across the United
States in 2006 to keep a promise to elementary children in
Missoula, Montana. Now he's returning to the road in
order to encourage more kids to be active and fit.
"The trek across Montana is my way of trying to make an
impact in the problem of childhood obesity and the
continuing decline of youth health and fitness," Staso says.
"The 18-day east-to-west journey across Montana will require
me to average 34 miles per day from the Great Plains to the
Rocky Mountains. I'll be virtually racing teams of children
from various parts of the globe as they access my web site,
www.pacetrek.com, and learn about the locations we're
traveling through together via journal entries, pictures and
videos."
P.A.C.E. Trek 2008, which has been in
development for one year, will begin April 28, 2008 and go
through May 15, 2008. Through rain, wind, heat, cold, and
possibly snow, Staso is determined to make the journey
across his home state. P.A.C.E. is an acronym for
Promoting Active Children Everywhere and that is what
Staso hopes to achieve through his latest endeavor.
"Since I completed my 108 days of running coast-to-coast
across America, I've had opportunities to speak to many
audiences about the purpose of P.A.C.E. and what needs to be
done to turn the tide on the growing epidemic of childhood
obesity," Staso says. "Kids need to see that if you take
care of your body it can take you on some wonderful
adventures. By the reactions I receive from children, I know
that my journeys intrigue many of them. If I can plant a
seed of possibility in even one child, then all of the
mileposts are worth it."
Staso, a former 5th grade
teacher, has developed an extensive web site at
www.pacetrek.com so that teachers and students from
kindergarten through high school can be involved in the
trek. There is no cost to schools to form a
P.A.C.E. Trek 2008 team and if the Montana endeavor is a
success Staso may do a P.A.C.E. trek in other locations
annually.
"We'll have to see what kind of interest
there is for this type of fitness/ educational virtual trek
challenge," Staso says. "We've set it up so that teachers
will have everything needed at the
pacetrek.com web site and
it would not take any more than 15 minutes per day for 14
school days. That's a commitment of only 3½
hours total. We've already registered many teams from across the
U.S. and overseas, with thousands of students scheduled to
take part - from Germany to Georgia; Malaysia to Maine;
Australia to Alaska... and so many places in between."
The virtual trek is not limited to only
classroom students, but can also be a challenge that other
youth-focused groups can participate in, such as
running/mileage clubs, after school enrichment programs,
YMCA youth programs, and more.
Staso will once again push a jogging
stroller to carry his essential equipment, including: food, water, tent, GPS,
running gear, and more
─
even a solar panel for charging his electronic gadgets.
Lodging will be arranged before the journey begins, but Staso
may need to camp in some
locations along the demanding
─
and frequently desolate
─
route.
Staso plans to form the P.A.C.E.
Fitness Foundation and is committed to doing what he can to
inspire, educate and motivate kids toward greater health
and fitness. He also wants kids to set personal goals and to
reach for their dreams, because as he says, "Your dreams are
beyond the horizon, and you have to persevere to the horizon
in order to realize those dreams." When not running the
roads of America, Staso develops
virtual trek curriculums which many schools have either
imitated or adopted,
including a Run/Walk Across America challenge (seeusrun.com)
and a trek along the historic Route 66 (kids66.com).
He also develops corporate web sites and provides Internet
marketing services through
OnTrack Designs.
Staso is asking
all who hear about his latest endeavor, P.A.C.E. Trek 2008, to share the journey
with as many public, private and homeschool teachers as
possible - as well as any other youth leaders/directors of
programs that may benefit. "This will be a fun, educational trek for all kids in
grades K through 12, regardless of where they're located,"
Staso says. "Since it's a free and unique opportunity I hope
that teachers, coaches and youth program leaders will give it a try and support the aim of
getting kids up, moving and learning."
You can learn
more about P.A.C.E. Trek 2008 at
www.pacetrek.com, and you
can experience Staso's 2006 solo run across America online
at
www.pacerun.com.
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