Increasing Physical Activity

New York Road Runners

2017 Progress Report

Year Committed: 2013
Length of Commitment: 5 years
Select a Progress Report:

Over the next five years, through an investment of $7 million dollars, NYRR will expand the number of participating schools by 20 percent and increase the number of student participants by at least 25 percent. In addition, NYRR will disseminate its free digital teaching resource, Running Start, to at least 2,500 schools.

Verified Results

  • Implementation Date

    July 2017

    Reporting Date

    August 2017

    Commitment Element

    Continue funding its Might Milers program in the amount of at least $1.3 million per year. New York Road Runners will increase funding for the Mighty Milers program to at least $1.5 million per year within 5 years, collectively expending a minimum of $7 million over 5 years.

    Progress To Date

    From September 2016-March 2018, over $2.9 million was invested in youth programming for physical activity, including Mighty Milers. Since the start of its commitment, New York Road Runners has invested over $9.4 million in Mighty Milers and other programming to support physical activity among youth.

  • Implementation Date

    July 2018

    Reporting Date

    August 2017

    Commitment Element

    Expand the number of schools participating in the Mighty Milers program by a minimum of 20% by 2018, an increase of at least 100 schools from the current baseline number of schools. At least 80% of the new participating schools should be schools in which at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.

    Progress To Date

    During the 2016-2017 school year, 333 sites participated in Mighty Milers, 291 of which were schools. Of the 291 schools that participated, 255 schools were new to the program, including 239 public schools and 16 private schools. A total of 126 of the new schools (49%) had 50% or more students who qualified for free or reduced price lunch. Since the start of its commitment, 960 new schools have participated in the Mighty Milers program, an increase of 66% since baseline of 577 schools.

  • Implementation Date

    July 2018

    Reporting Date

    August 2017

    Commitment Element

    Increase the number of students participating in the Mighty Milers program by a minimum of 25% by 2018, an increase of 30,000 students from the current baseline of approximately 120,000 participating students.

    Progress To Date

    During the 2016-2017 school year, 47,586 youth were enrolled in the Mighty Milers program. Since the start of its commitment, 529,340 youth have participated in the Mighty Milers program compared to 125,668 at baseline.

  • Implementation Date

    July 2018

    Reporting Date

    August 2017

    Commitment Element

    Disseminate Running Start digital teaching resources to 2,500 schools serving 500,000 children. Promote the resources by attending and presenting at local and national conferences. Host at least 4 annual webinars for school administrators, physical education teachers or Let’s Move Active Schools champions in support of the resources.

    Progress To Date

    No update was provided on dissemination or training related to the Running Start Resource. From May 2017-September 2017, New York Road Runners offered 30 Rising New York Road Runners training activities. A total of 1,113 people attended one of the trainings.

  • Implementation Date

    July 2018

    Reporting Date

    August 2017

    Commitment Element

    Promote Let’s Move Active Schools through its website and newsletters.

    Progress To Date

    New York Road Runners promoted Let's Move! Active Schools via link on its website.

Partner Statement

“NYRR’s free Mighty Milers program continued to grow far beyond our PHA guidelines by engaging more than 200,000 students in 1,100 plus schools and community centers who collectively ran and walked almost 7 million miles. After thirteen years of success however, in September 2017 we replaced Mighty Milers with a new free program we had been developing for two years: Rising New York Road Runners. Created to reach even more youth more effectively and to promote fundamental concepts of 21st century physical education – physical literacy and long term athlete development – Rising New York Road Runners helps youth attain the ability, confidence, and desire to be physically active for life.

"Rising New York Road Runners is a research-based program developed in collaboration with leading organizations in the physical education movement. The program features hundreds of physical literacy games and activities which are fun, adaptable, and developmentally appropriate. Like Mighty Milers, the new program can serve an entire school, with free incentives for participating youth and sites. The program also features a Session Plan Builder, a database that provides teachers with instructions for leading the activities best suited to their specific needs and mapped to national physical education standards.”