In light of recent transportation issues, all Lincoln Park students have been signed up for the brand new Marathon Club, and are instructed to walk, run, or jog to school.
The new club, which will see its first year of operation this year, aims to get every student engaged with physical activity. Mr. Hector Schoer, the sponsor for the new club, claims that getting students to run or walk to school every morning will be immensely beneficial to their overall health.
“This will be a massive boost to student physical health and wellness. People underestimate the value of a good long run, especially early in the morning,” Schoer said.
When asked about student concerns over the time it would take to cover the distance, Schoer said, “Tardiness will not be tolerated. If you can’t make it to school on time, you’ll have to start leaving earlier. That’s the long and short of it. You’ve got to be here when you’ve got to be here, not a moment later.”
According to Schoer, there is no connection between the marathon club and the recent bus issues. “We’re not doing this to relieve pressure on the buses. If it does, hooray, but that’s an unintended side effect. We really want to focus on student health– that’s all we’re trying to do.”
Student reactions to the policy are mixed. Many are favorable to the policy, such as freshman health science major Theodore Bellman from New Castle, who said, “This is a wonderful idea. While I can understand having some reservations about it, I think you just haven’t seen what it can do yet. I’ve always woken up every morning at 4 a.m. just to run for three hours until my bus picks me up in Beaver. Having this become part of my school routine is a dream come true.”
Another supporter of the policy, senior pre-law major Joshua Schoer from Ambridge said about the new club, “It’s really well organized. You see most clubs here, and you think, ‘Oh, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,’ but this just makes sense. It’s the kind of thing we’ve all always been secretly hoping for, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that.”
There is also a nontrivial group of students who may not be enthusiastic participants in the new club, but still support the policy as a whole. One such student is Tracy Wellison, a sophomore writing and publishing major from Beaver, who said, “I think that if you want to do this, all the more power to you. I won’t be doing it–my mom yelled at the school for three hours to make sure of that–but by all means clear off a seat on the bus for me. Trust me, I appreciate it. If we could toss out the bluetooth speakers next, I’d really appreciate that, too.”
Support for the club and the policy is not unanimous, however. There are a few dissenting voices among the student body, such as junior health science major Ian Williamson from Midland, who voiced his opinion as, “I don’t see the point. If they want us to be healthy, they can install treadmills in the buses.
“Schools around the world do that, and it’s always worked out well for them. I don’t see why we have to reinvent the wheel when the good old treadbus works just fine–it’s how my dad got to school. There isn’t anything wrong with respecting tradition.”
