Batavia Accelerators get life lessons as well as running tips

Scott Kurth knows how to keep kids on track.

Kurth has been the coach of the Batavia Accelerators, a local running club for kids ages four and older, for the past seven years.

The club has been up and running for eight years. Throughout much of the year the group meets from 5 to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Fabyan Windmill off Route 25. On Tuesdays they meet from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Geneva Middle School South track off Viking Drive.

Practices are not mandatory and there is no requirement as to how many of them members are supposed to attend.

While running is the central focus, Kurth, a Batavia police officer, hopes to impart greater lessons to his kids.

"The first thing I teach (the kids) is to slow down their running because you have to slow down to go faster. This teaches them to slow down and take their time to get it right," Kurth, 50, said.

The group participates in weekend meets in nearby suburbs and race distances vary according to age. The youngest kids typically run the metric mile, 1,500 meters, and the older kids run anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000-meter races.

The cost to join the Accelerators is $15. Membership dues are put toward their annual cross-country meet. This year's meet will be held on Oct. 17 at the Mooseheart School in North Aurora and is open to nonmembers.

The Accelerators' team membership is constantly fluctuating, swelling in the summer to an upward of 70 kids and gradually tapering off in the school year to little more than 30. The club boasts members from Batavia, Geneva, Algonquin, Oswego and beyond.

Kurth estimates that there are about 25 other running groups in the area for kids, but feels that the Accelerators have a different message than other groups. With the Accelerators, it is trying that trumps everything else.

"I'm trying to teach kids that by working hard and setting goals you'll ace anything. It's not about winning it's about trying," Kurth said.

"I don't want to hear, 'I can't.' At the end of the day I want to hear 'I tried.' People can do anything now. The world has changed so much and this is a different type of club."

It's a message that resonates with Kurth's son Spencer, 11, who has been running with the Accelerators for the past few years.

"It's fun to run with the Accelerators, you get to hang around with other kids and help each other out. If I hadn't been running for all these years with them I wouldn't be where I am now," the younger Kurth said. Spencer can now run a 5k (3.1 miles) in 22 minutes.

Many of the Accelerators are also involved in other team sports like soccer. Parents like Sarah Gollwitzer of North Aurora have noticed a marked improvement in their kids' athletic performance after having them run with the group.

Gollwitzer first became involved with the Accelerators a few years ago when her daughter Miranda, 12, first began training with them. Now her son Jarod, 8, runs with the group as well. Gollwitzer feels that her children's involvement with the Accelerators has paid them vast dividends, both athletically and socially.

"(The Accelerators) provide a fun environment. It's not high pressure and my kids are in better soccer shape and they do better because they train year round," she said.

"It's not just about the running, my kids have friends there now. The Accelerators is a nice way to meet other kids."

For information, visit bataviaaccelerators.org