MOSES LAKE — “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” the Bible says in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the students at Crestview Christian School in Moses Lake did just that. 

Sixteen students turned out Friday morning on a makeshift quarter-mile track laid out on the school lawn for the annual Jog-a-Thon fundraiser. 

“It’s one of our best fundraisers, because kids get their family and friends (to sponsor them),” said Crestview School Board Chair Joanne Thomas. “So, people can participate from all over the country. They can either sponsor per lap or a flat amount. It’s amazing that a small number of kids can raise a significant amount of money.” 

A significant amount indeed. Last year’s Jog-a-Thon had 22 students participating and raised more than $20,000, Thomas said. The money goes for improvements to the school, she said. 

“Typically, we pick projects that will benefit the students,” she said. “Last year we worked on a security system, and this year we are working on either playground equipment or finishing a room that we call the reading resource room.” 

Some students ran, some jogged and some just trudged along doggedly. The grownups were careful to see that nobody get too worn out or did themselves an injury. 

“They go for about three hours,” said Jenna Woodcook, who teaches third through eighth grades at Crestview. “They start out walking and we tell them, go slow on your first lap. We make sure they warm up. We make sure they drink water after an hour, and they’re offered Gatorade if they want it. And if it gets super-hot we have a mister that we turn on. We want to stay hydrated and have fun.” 

The Crestview students weren’t running alone. Parents, teachers and volunteers joined in as well, and the pre-school children from Bright Beginnings, the daycare attached to Crestview, had their own eighth-mile track a little way away. 

After each lap students stopped at a station to have their laps marked off on a T-shirt printed especially for the occasion. Some of the students completed 20 laps or more, Woodcook said. Not all the adults were as energetic. 

“I've only done five laps, but I have fun,” Woodcook said. “They enjoy having their teachers (run with them). We have a volunteer PE teacher who comes out and he does a few laps. We've got parents walking with kids.  

It's all run by volunteers,” she added. “(There are) the teachers and the staff, but all of the people who are marking shirts are volunteers. (One) lady who's running the water is a volunteer. The other one is a parent. So it really involves everybody.” 

    Crestview Christian School volunteer Azure Goltz gives first-grader Ben Spencer a drink of water at the school’s Jog-a-Thon on Friday morning.
  

    Crestview Christian School teacher Jenna Woodcook shows her custom-printed T-shirt for marking off laps at the Jog-a-Thon. She had only completed five quarter-mile laps, but some of the students would go on to complete 20 or more, she said.