Miles for Music Inaugural 20K Race Receives USATF-NJ Championship Status

CRANFORD, NJ, January 11, 2012 (Press-News.org) Miles for Music, a 501(c)(3) non-profit (pending) organization that raises money to help fund music education programs in public schools through running events, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded USATF New Jersey Championship status for its inaugural 20K event. The 20K race will be held on Sunday, March 11, 2012. The event will take place in Johnson Park, located in Highland Park, NJ, with the 20K race start time at 9:00 a.m.

In addition to the 20K race, there will be a 1 Mile Run/Walk for school-aged participants, along with their parents, teachers and school administrators. The 1 Miler race will begin at 12 noon, just after the 20K Award Ceremony completes.

Miles for Music is the brainchild of elementary school music education teacher, Anne McCarthy, who wanted to find a meaningful way to combine her love for running with her love for teaching music to her students. The mission for the organization is to get children and their families engaged in physical activity, music and learning the important lesson of contributing to their community. The goal is for the children to develop a love for and a habit of running, music, and community engagement.

According to Ms. McCarthy, "Miles for Music is a fantastic way for kids to get away from all their electronic gadgets and to get out and help raise some much needed funding for their schools' music education programs, which have experienced some belt-tightening due to the current state of the economy. Running a race with their classmates and peers will give the students something physical and fun to do, while giving something back to their education. We are excited about our inaugural race and what we anticipate will be an annual event that will draw growing numbers of participants every year."

Miles for Music 20K has been designated as a USATF New Jersey Long Distance Running Championship for all Divisions, and will be kicking off the race season as the first race on the USATF New Jersey championship calendar. As such, Ms. McCarthy expects a larger attendance than would be typical for a first year race - especially with awards for each of the top three USATF New Jersey Male and Female Open Finishers and each of the top three USATF New Jersey Age-Graded Masters (40+) Male and Female Finishers in the 20K race receiving prize awards of $150.00, $100.00 and $50.00, respectively.

The Miles for Music 1 Miler is a special race for participating New Jersey school teams with a minimum of 10 participants. Any New Jersey school that wants to participate in the 1 Miler Race is invited to sign up. Parents, students, teachers, administrators - anyone can be a member of the team.

Contributions to participating schools' music education programs will be based on the number of 1 Miler registrants on each school's team, so the more teachers, students, and parents registered for race day - the greater the contribution back to the school.

Every student participant in the 1 Miler race will receive a special prize to commemorate his or her participation at the Victory Recovery Area at the end of the 1 Miler race. Refreshments will also be available for both the 20K and the 1 Miler runners.

For more information about Miles for Music and to register for the 20K and 1 Miler races, please visit the Miles for Music website at http://www.milesformusic.org.

Our mission is to get kids and their families engaged - in physical activity, music and learning the important lesson of contributing to their community. The goal is for children to develop a love and habit of running, music and community engagement. For further information, please contact us at events@milesformusic.org