WASHINGTON -- While area runners are training for the National Marathon, a group of D.C. elementary and middle school students is taking its marathon one mile at a time.

With jumping jacks and toe touches, the kids warm up for a challenge that's putting them on the road to fitness. The students are part of JUMMP, the Junior Monumental Milers Program. During the next 17 weeks, they will run a total of 26.2 miles -- the equivalent of a full marathon.

"They're learning long-term fitness over 16, 17 weeks, and it's a great start for a lifetime of fitness," said National Marathon Race Director Keith Dowling.

City leaders, including Mayor Adrian Fenty, who ran in last year's National Marathon, gave the kids a pep talk.

"There's so many endurance sports out here that young people may not give a try," he said. "I started running track when I was in elementary school."

The students will run at least once a week at their neighborhood recreation centers, and they'll log each mile until they finish the course.

"They're paralleling what our marathon participants are going through this winter, which is training through the winter for one day," Dowling said.

The training is designed to promote the National Marathon and help the students connect with the event, which weaves its way past the city's monuments and through its neighborhoods.

"We want the community to be a part of the National Marathon on a broad basis across the city," said Fernando Murias, of the Greater Washington Sports Alliance.

On the day of the National Marathon, March 29, the children will run their final mile at the site of the marathon. Hopefully, by the end of the program, the running will be a habit.

"What we have to do is start developing good habits from day one, and once they become high schoolers, adults, they may keep those habits going," said former NBA player Wayne "Tree" Rollins.

The JUMMP program is sponsored by the Greater Washington Sports Alliance and the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation.