Little Team Sheppard members maintain fitness Published June 7, 2010 By Airman 1st Class Valerie Hosea 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Sheppard's Madrigal Youth Center hosted an American Armed Forces Kids Run at the 1-mile track June 5. More than 100 participants dashed around the track, running distances ranging from .5 to 2 miles. Evelyn Holmes, event coordinator, said the principle of the run was to encourage not only kids' fitness, but fitness as a family. "It's a well-known fact that kids have more fun participating in activities with their families," she said. "Military parents usually exercise with their military family, but working out with their children makes fitness something the kids will want to maintain for the rest of their lives." Mrs. Holmes said the other key purpose of the event was to promote safe fitness for the kids. "The run served as good exercise and healthy fun for the kids," she said. "If kids see that exercise can be fun now, then when they're older it'll feel much better to maintain a lifetime of fitness. That's what we wanted to teach them while showing them how to be safe in the process by doing the necessary stretches and taking appropriate precautions." Karla Benliro, mother of a 1-mile runner, said the run was very helpful for her and her son. "It was a great idea to do this," she said. "I'm training my son to exercise safely and correctly, so this run really helped. Mom runs all the time, but it was nice to do it with my son." After each runner completed their assigned distance, they were awarded points and respective prizes for the Air Force-sponsored Fit Factor program.