Nonprofit Partners

Iowa Kidstrong

Founded in 2005, Iowa Kidstrong is committed to promoting healthy and active lifestyles among children.

The organization's many initiatives support and supplement school-based physical education and health programs and are designed to target elementary children at an impressionable age.

Iowa Kidstrong seeks to interrupt the controllable patterns that lead to poor health, creating a wellness culture that recycles itself for generations to come.

In five short years, Iowa Kidstrong has achieved considerable success; most notably through its KidStriders program that encourages and incents students to run/walk a cumulative distance of 26 miles (marathon) - the last quarter-mile of which will be run as a special, celebratory part of the Grand Blue Mile.

The program has been nationally recognized by former Surgeon General of the United States, Steven Galson, and author and ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes, who described KidStriders as "brilliant" after experiencing the program firsthand during a visit to Des Moines.

In support of these vital initiatives, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Drake Relays are proud to recognize and honor Iowa Kidstrong as an official beneficiary of the Grand Blue Mile.