Michelle Crippen was expecting somewhere in the area of 50 students, staff and parents at the first-ever practice last Monday of the “Mustang Marathoners” Running Club.

Instead, she was wowed by the large turnout of 160 at Woodward School.

The goal of the Running Club’s progressive Marathon is to log in 26.2 miles by March. Two sessions were held this week – the group also met on Thursday – with Crippen, who is the program coordinator at the school, noting that distances would be tracked between now and the spring.

The group will continue the two-sessions-per-week running schedule.

“The interval sheet will help running club members keep track of their independent miles,” she said. “They’ll need to complete 23.1 miles prior to March 9.

“The remaining 3.1 miles can be completed at the Modesto Marathon (on March 18).”

At the end, each participant will earn a finisher’s medal.

For now, runners will soon receive a bracelet to help keep track of their miles. A toe token will represent each completed mile, and can easily be attached to the bracelet.

“They’ll get a voucher (for a bracelet),” said Crippen, who helped coach the Woodward School track team last spring.

She was influenced to put together the Mustang Marathoners from a group of her fellow teachers.

“We have several here who are devoted runners and do half marathons,” Crippen said.

She began training some two years ago to run the 13-plus miles. Never mind that her husband has completed several marathons including one in Orange County.

“I really wasn’t a runner, at first,” Crippen confessed.

 She initially found that running a mile at nearby Woodward Park was a big accomplishment.

As time went on, Crippen slowly increased the distance of her runs until achieving her half-marathon goal.

At Woodward, she has a one-mile course set up around campus. Principal Sherrie Jamero participated on that first day.

On Thursday, Manteca High senior Cory Rocha was on hand to help warm up the rather large group of runners. He directed them in stretching and warm-up exercises.

“This is not a race,” Crippen told Running Club members as they took their mark. “We can run, we can walk, and we can jog.

“We all have the same goal of doing a mile.”

Those who can’t make it to the afterschool Running Club sessions can make up the mile on their own, according to Crippen.

However, any make-up miles completed off campus would be required to be recorded and signed by a parent or coordinator, she added.