When Susan Donnan ran the final few strides of last year’s Seattle Half Marathon, she noticed that hundreds of kids were crossing the artificial turf of Seattle’s Memorial Stadium beside her.

They were part of the Kids Marathon that accompanies the annual adult event, and Donnan became an instant fan.

She’s not the only one. Started in 1998 with 250 signed up, the Kids Marathon had more than 1,400 entrants in 2000, and organizers anticipate nearly 3,000 this year.

The idea is simple: kids aged six through twelve run 25 miles in easy increments prior to raceday on Sunday, Nov. 25.

Then they line up at 10 a.m. next to the Experience Music Project and loop around Seattle Center as they run another 1.2 miles to equal the official marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

For the $5 entry fee, they get a T-shirt, space blanket and certificate of completion. There are also incentives for each five miles that they log along the way: small feet to put on a keychain for every five miles, then a larger one when they reach 25.

So when Donnan suggested that Voyager Montessori School – which both her boys attend – participate this year, 21 students, or nearly half the school’s population, signed up. They’ve been training since Oct. 15.

“I thought it was a great thing,” said Donnan, who has completed nine marathons. “I know the feeling of accomplishment that I get from finishing a marathon.”

There are other benefits as well.

“This gives my kids (both of whom are entered) a taste of what mom’s doing,” she added. “And it helps to promote running and physical fitness.”

Their “track” is a dirt driveway loop next to the school, which measures about a tenth of a mile. So at noon groups of students put in their laps, with a variety of running styles. Some sprint, walk, sprint again, then walk. Others jog more consistently. Their goal is to complete at least 10 laps so they can record another mile.

For some, a mile a day isn’t enough.

Eight-year-old Sean LaBelle did six miles recently, and as of Wednesday had already logged 33 miles. Sometimes he’ll knock off two or three miles around his driveway, a stupefying 51 laps to the mile.

Ryan Kok, 10, got off to somewhat of a late start. But he’s made up for it by running and walking several miles at a time with his dad Randy, and was already up to about 20 miles.

“It’ll be fun to say I ran a marathon,” he said.

“Running a mile a day is no big deal,” said 10-year-old Beau Donnan. He’s already run several 5K races, including one on Maui while his mom ran the Maui Marathon.

Logging miles

Will Indvik, 11, will also be well past the marathon distance come race day as he logged his 25th mile on Wednesday.

“I’ve never run a big race before, and it seemed like fun,” he said.

“I run as much as I can,” he added. That includes twice-weekly soccer practice and an occasional walk/jog to a gas station a mile from his home to get a candy bar.

A group of four girls – Karis Hanson, Madeline Sheldon, Josefine Wallace and Donna Horning – run together and as of Wednesday had each logged 17 miles.

“I really like to run,” said Madeline, age 11. “And running in a marathon sounded like fun.”

Ten-year-old Karis is no stranger to putting in the miles, having run before; Donna, also age 10, said she likes the prospect of completing a marathon.

“I like to run, and to compete,” said Josefine, at 9 the youngest of the group. There can be little doubt of her competitive bent: informed of the summer all-comers meets, which feature heats by age groups, her first question is, “Can I run ‘up’ an age?”

Stephanie Osmond “has lots of other things going on,” such as getting a new horse, so she’d only put in about a dozen miles.

“A mile a day is no big deal,” said the 7-year-old, a frequent double- and triple-event winner during the summer all-comers meets.

Another youngster with competitive experience is 9-year-old Karl Zischke, who lives in Indianola and has won races there.

While most of the Voyager group will run in the actual race, Zischke and LaBelle will be out of town because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

No problem, said Donnan.

“We’ll have our own little finish on Monday at school,” she explained. “They’ll do their laps then and we’ll give them their shirts and space blankets.”

Other Voyager students involved are Sarah Bershinski, Alexander Coplan, Denver Donnan, Aubrey Durand (at six the youngest member of the group), Laura Durand, Tavis Hamilton, Brianna Hunt, Henry Indvik, Makaila O’Brien, Chris Purdy and Larkin Sheldon.

“It’s been fun watching their progress,” Donnan said. “Some began by doing mostly walking, and now they say that the running is a lot easier.

“I expect that next year will be even bigger. Everyone else will see how much fun these kids are having.”