Mary Greeley Mileage Club a Motivator for Pair of Elite Athletes

Moon and Lynch say program helped instill a love of running that led to multiple track championships

It wasn’t visions of gold, silver or bronze that motivated two of Ames High School’s most decorated female track athletes during their younger years. For Ellie Lynch and Cameron Moon, the motivation to move came from getting their hands on the brightly colored tokens, shaped like a foot, that were handed out during the annual Mary Greeley Mileage Club program.

The Mileage Club is organized each Spring by Mary Greeley’s Diabetes and Nutrition Education Center and sponsored by the Mary Greeley Foundation. The program has been in existence since 2006 and encourages elementary aged children at more than a dozen local schools to participate in regular physical activity. During the 8-week program, students are awarded the colorful tokens and other incentive prizes as they reach mileage milestones.

Cameron and Ellie, who graduated from Ames High in 2023, have fond memories of the Mileage Club.

“It was a fun way to gain an appreciation for sports and for competitiveness,” says Cameron, who participated in Mileage Club at Edwards Elementary in Ames and will continue her track career at Iowa State University. “It is really what introduced me to track and to running. Seeing your name on the leaderboard and getting prizes and even having a chance to beat the boys helped me establish a love for the sport.”

Headed to the University of Iowa to play softball, Ellie says she recognized she had a passion for running during Mileage Club at Sawyer Elementary in Ames.

“I noticed that when the newness of the Mileage Club wore off after a week or two for a lot of students that I was still motivated,” says Ellie, who like Cameron, won multiple State Track and Drake Relays championships in her four years as a Little Cyclone. “It also was a lot of fun to race against our friends during the school day. And the colored tokens were exciting to receive and made the experience more fun.”

The most recent data from the 2023 Mileage Club illustrates how beloved the program is by local students. Mileage Club totals for the year include:

• 17 schools
• 5,355 participants
• 52,236 miles logged
• 211,430 laps completed
• 12.02 average miles per student
• 27.92 highest average per student (St Cecilia)
• 16 $500 grants to help schools purchase equipment
• 962 t-shirts awarded for the 25-mile prize

The success of the program is no surprise for the duo from Ames High. They so appreciated the opportunity it offered them to be active that they included their colorful tokens in their display of accomplishments at the graduation party they hosted together.

“We never could have expected back then that it would have led us to what we accomplished in track at Ames High. But it did get me to begin thinking that if I was fast then, that I would be even faster when I got older,” Cameron says. “It was important to include our tokens with all of our other awards because that was where we both got our start.”

“It sounds funny to say,” Ellie adds, “but the tokens are almost as meaningful to us as the medals we won at state track and Drake. They kept us motivated to keep trying to get more and aspire to a higher level of achievement.”

In addition to their fond memories of the program and its motivating nature, both Cameron and Ellie are very thankful for the many volunteers who turned out three days a week to ensure Mileage Club happened.

“I’m so grateful to all of the volunteers who punched our cards and were always there for us,” Cameron says.

“They really encouraged healthy competition and fun,” Ellie says of the volunteers. “I would encourage all parents of elementary students to consider volunteering. They play a very important part in it all.”