The fall Healthy Kids Running Series (HKRS) will encompass five separate events for boys and girls ages 2 through 14 on September 10, 17, 2023, and 24 and October 1 and 8, 2023, all starting at 3 p.m., at the Parkman Playground soccer field, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Kids will compete in age-appropriate 50- and 75-yard dashes plus one-quarter-, one-half- and one-mile-runs to earn points with those that accumulate the most in their respective distances awarded trophies. All participants receive a medal in the last week.

Also, a Challenger Division, an adaptive, 75-yard race for children with disabilities and/or special needs, allows parents and others to accompany them to provide support such as crutches, braces and wheelchairs. High school students can also run in a two-mile race.

The national, community-based, nonprofit HKRS was founded in 2009 to combat increasing rates of childhood obesity in America through the positive introduction of running that provides a fun environment, builds self-esteem, motivates kids to lead a healthy and active lifestyle, and establishes adoption of a “get up and go” attitude.