Winter Warmup Program Provides Couch to 5K Training for All Ages

Above: measuring steps 

It’s a blustery March morning, and the East Lansing Couch to 5K training group is warming up in one of the classroom spaces at the Hannah Center. Coach DJ McMillian is leading the participants through a routine of dynamic stretching before they head out to Abbot Rd. for their Saturday Morning training run (or walk). The group moves from one end of the classroom to the other, kicking their legs out straight in front of them as they move, limbering up muscles that are about to face the winter cold.

This free Blue Cross Winter Warm Up program is staffed by coaches from Playmakers and is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield in collaboration with Community Partners in Health and the Playmaker’s Fitness Foundation. There are eight sites in the Tri-county area where participants can sign up to run or walk with one of these twice-a-week, eight week long training programs, culminating in a community wide 5K (3.1 mile) run at Hawk Island County Park in Lansing on March 26th. There’s no prerequisite for joining, and the participants in East Lansing’s program range in age, ability and experience from absolute newbies to seasoned veterans.

The East Lansing participants’ main topic of discussion before heading out to run was what color their group should wear at the 5K, with lots of disappointment that the Dewitt group had already chosen Green. According to coordinator Alicia Armstrong of the Playmakers Fitness Foundation, the whole program has over 450 participants signed up, ranging in age from 6 months (pushed in a stroller) to 84 years. The East Lansing program was capped at 60 participants, and there’s hope that they can accommodate more next year.

Armstrong guides the stragglers, children Allen and Sariah out the door. They’ve come with their mother Ricarla Carter, who gives Sariah a surveyor’s wheel to measure her distance so that she can measure her progress against the last time she came. They head north on Abbot towards the East Lansing High School running track.

Carter says she was attracted to the program because it is family friendly. According to Armstrong there are other families that usually attend as well, even one that brings an exchange student who is staying with them, but the weather today is 15 degrees colder than it has been and some of the less hearty souls have stayed home.

Helena Hrinczenko is not here to run (she laughs at the idea) but she still finds the program helpful as a walker. McMillian teaches “good form walking” as part of his coaching, and Hrinczenko mentions that the coaches videotaped them at the track during the previous session, and that after seeing herself she was better able to adapt some of the “good form” principles to help her go further during their practice.

Matt McDonald, a construction worker-turned-art teacher looked to running as part of his rehabilitation after a jobsite injury which broke both his legs. He joined the C25K program with a friend, even though he had some running experience already, mostly for the camaraderie and a little extra push to help him meet his goals.

Accountability is a word that comes up repeatedly while chatting with the participants. The idea of heading out the door for some mid-winter exercise seems less intimidating when you know that you won’t be alone, and that there’s the 5K victory lap to look forward to at the end.

The Blue Cross Winter Warm UP 5K at Hawk Island on March 26th isn’t just for the Winter Warm Up participants, though: it’s free and open to the public. You can sign-up through their website but pre-registration is required so that organizers know who to expect. There’s still time to join them if you’re interested in seeing what the Winter Warm Up program has to offer.