Esteban Parra

The News Journal

There was a sense of accomplishment as 6-year-old Faith Mitchell crossed the finish line Saturday at P.S. DuPont Middle School's track.

For eight weeks, Faith and about 50 other children, have been meeting twice a week to run, walk or jog in order to accumulate 26.2 miles by the end of the time period. And on Saturday the children completed the marathon tally.

"Good," huffed Faith after crossing the line on the muggy morning. She added her favorite part of the race was the reaction of the people who showed up to cheer her and the others on. "When I was running fast and the people were cheering on me."

When she crossed the finish line, she got her very own piece of bling, a medal, from city councilwoman Hanifa Shabazz and city treasurere candidate Velda Jones-Potter.

Faith, her 10-year-old brother Kevin Mitchell Jr., and the other children – ages 4 through 14 – have been participating over the summer in Earn The Bling's "I can do 26.2" youth program, which promotes being active and establishes healthy habits in children's lifestyle. It also works to show children they can complete the distance of a marathon and hopefully other adversities that will cross their paths.

"It was a great feeling to see her cross the finish line," said Faith's mother, D'Veda Mitchell. "She's not much of a runner, but this program has really taught her to keep fighting, keep pushing and that exercise is healthy."

The elder Mitchell said it's a special feeling to see one's child complete something and expects the family to continue this activity.

"For the past eight weeks, these children have come out here and worked really hard every Monday and Wednesday," said Chika Chukwuocha, founder of Earn The Bling, which hosts several virtual athletic events to help raise money for various charities. The I can do 26.2 program is a virtual race, which have become popular ways for people to participate in physical races that they would not otherwise be able to.

Earlier this year, British astronaut Tim Peake ran all 26.2 miles of the London Marathon while on a treadmill in the International Space Station.

In a virtual race, a person can participant in any location by either walking, running, using a treadmill or participating in another race.

Some of the children who participated in Saturday's event were unable to complete a lap around a track when they first started the program, Chukwuocha said.

"Today they are running," she said. "Today they can do full laps and they are happy to come out."

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Chukwuocha's husband, Wilmington City Councilman Nnamdi Chukwuocha, said the program is a way to introduce children to healthy lifestyles. "Hopefully many of them will continue," he said.

Nnamdi Chukwuocha said this also is a great activity for families to perform together at no cost.

"Families that stay together, pray together and families that are healthy, stay healthy together," he said. "When you exercise together, it becomes a lifestyle. It's something that we pass on from the oldest to the youngest."

He hoped that children remember how they were able to overcome the disbelief in completing a marathon and that it carries over into other areas.

"That handles not only here on the track but also in the classroom," he said. "In life, when you handle adversities, this is that true resilience.

"Just showing them what's inside of them."

Eleven-year-old Amira Allen said she enjoyed participating in the program because it helped train her for running track, which she enjoys. But even Allen, who is a runner, said the program helped her believe that she could accomplish running 26.2 miles – a goal she didn't think about before.

"You finish an achievement," she said. "And you have another award to go in your trophy case."

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.