The mere mention of a school field trip usually has kids running for the sign-up sheet without a second thought.An ambitious, precedent-setting trip organized by Dave and Tami Hawkins simply has kids running.Fifty-six students from four high schools have been training since September to run  a half marathon at Orlando's Disney World Saturday.Physical education students in Grades 10, 11 and 12 from Belle River, Riverside, Kennedy and Massey will take part in the six-day adventure.  

Dave Hawkins, a Riverside teacher, ran Disney's half marathon last year over the Christmas break. He saw a middle school cross-country team in the field and that got him and his wife Tami, a Kennedy teacher, wondering how they could involve Windsor kids.Tami put together a comprehensive proposal tying the trip and related activities to the phys ed curriculum, which prompted the Greater Essex County District School Board to give the outing formal approval."It would be a great trip for one school and there are four schools working on this," board superintendent Dave Lynn. said."This is a unique field trip because there's been four and a half months of training and activity leading up to it. It's a little more involved than we've ever done before."

In addition to running the half marathon Saturday, the students will staff a water station for Sunday's full marathon. They're taking part in a five-kilometre family run to raise money for lymphoma research Friday and they'll attend a coinciding health and fitness expo and a three-hour leadership seminar provided by Disney.From the start, the emphasis has been on getting ordinary students fit and active. Only a handful of participants are seasoned long distance runners.

"We weren't looking for runners," Tami Hawkins said. "We were looking for the average student who wanted to challenge themselves."Fifteen-year-old Victoria Weaver falls into that category. "It's all new for me," Weaver said of running three times a week. "I signed up just for the fact I wanted to try something different."

The group's goal is to have everyone finish within the mandatory 3.5 -hour window. The students at Kennedy had to commit to twice weekly runs after school with a staff member and one long run on their own each weekend.

Weaver could barely cover two miles when she started but now she's built up to seven."We've got kids that are working their way into shape and others who are in other sports who see it as a great opportunity to cross train," Dave Hawkins said. "This is not a race. We're going down to enjoy a good long run."