They bolted out of St. Anthony's screaming and holding handmade signs.

And no, it wasn't a Justin Bieber sighting.

It was Mike Stashin, wrapping up his 14th marathon in as many days.

"Kids are living their life more through screens, through TVs, laptops, Smartphones, as opposed to getting out there, just being on their bikes or running," said Stashin.

A low-impact running instructor, Stashin worked with Healthy Active Living and Obesity, through CHEO's research group, developing Fun2Run, a non-competitive program for kids in grades 4 through 6.

"They're inactive. This is becoming a huge risk factor now for things like Type 2 diabetes, or cardiovascular disease," said Stashin.

Fun2Run is being piloted at St. Anthony School.

Stashin, making his way down Booth St., was greeted with hugs and high fives.

"It was an exciting day," said Grade 6 student Diana Lopez.

"He's a really brave runner to run all those kilometres ... He's inspired me on the running. It's something that, I think it's a cool thing to do."

Stashin tallied 42.2 km each day.

"I stayed in Ottawa, chose a number of different routes that were fairly safe. Tried to minimize intersections, stay on bike paths, that sort of thing," he said.

Kids have spent five weeks in gym class training with Stashin for Friday's 3km Ghost Run.

"The whole idea is trying to get the kids to enjoy running," said principal Paul McGuire.

Twitter: @kellyroche6