Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 November 6

= November 6 =

Does any country make all-able bodied elementary schoolers run metric mile+ races?
America makes them run 600 yards. I think I wasn't forced to till 3rd or 4th grade. I dreamt the entire non-disabled 2nd grade had to run 200 meters uphill then 1300 down in the rain and few could make the time that gave a prize and was wondering if any country was this mean. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 17:41, 6 November 2017 (UTC)


 * In the UK there's The Daily Mile scheme; "a popular, simple and free initiative that sees children run/walk/jog for 15 minutes every day in their primary and nursery schools" which schools can choose to adopt. I think it's an Imperial mile, but it doesn't sound terribly prescriptive. It's promoted by a charity rather than by the government, which has its own Childhood obesity plan recommending that "Every primary school child should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day". (Opinion - maybe it's crueller to let children get fat and die early from horrible diseases?) Alansplodge (talk) 17:58, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
 * There's also JOGG (Jongeren Op Gezond Gewicht or "Young People at a Healthy Weight") scheme in the Netherlands which has adopted The Daily Mile according to this article "181 scholen in Nederland meedoen aan The Daily Mile". More about JOGG and its French originator EPODE (Ensemble Prévenons l’Obésité De Enfants or "Together let’s Prevent Childhood Obesity") is here in English this time. Alansplodge (talk) 18:17, 6 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Is that an official translation? Is 'Youngsters of Sound Weight' no good? μηδείς (talk) 01:43, 7 November 2017 (UTC)


 * "Kids of Unusual Size" Andy Dingley (talk) 02:34, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Gezond indeed translates as "healthy," according to Mr. Google, similar to the German gesund (as in gesundheit). Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 02:36, 7 November 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Boris, I do understand that, I had four years and two semesters of German, but "sound" is a synonym of "healthy". Given gezond and sound are cognate, I am wondering, is this an officially sanctioned term, or just someone's personal ad hoc translation? μηδείς (talk) 17:32, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * User:Medeis, it's the translation used by CHRODIS – The European Joint Action on Chronic Disease and Promoting Healthy Ageing across the Life Cycle and the link I posted above was from the Scottish Parliament, so it seems to be the official translation. This online English-Dutch dictionary give "Healthy Weight Agreement" as Convenant Gezond Gewicht. Alansplodge (talk) 09:46, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
 * America has guidelines which individual schools can follow, but the federal government has no authority to force kids to run. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:42, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * What's a metric mile? --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 13:31, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * See if the article titled metric mile explains it to your satisfaction. -- Jayron 32 13:36, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, silly me for not looking. So it's an approximation of a mile which fits a whole number of meters. Is it always 1500m? The aritcle seems equivocal. I can see how 1500m is a whole 100m different from a mile, is that the point the OP is making, of the standard being set at 1500m plus rather than 1609m plus? --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 16:32, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * In most international contexts, 1500m is colloquially the "metric mile", but for U.S. High School competitions, it is 1600m, the latter being closer to the true value. -- Jayron 32 16:45, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * I wonder if "metric mile" is limited to use by American broadcasters? I don't watch athletics much any more, but I've only ever heard 1,500m - usually expressed as "the fifteen hundred meters" or just "the fifteen hundred". Matt Deres (talk) 17:14, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * I grew up in Australia, and at my school sports day the 1500m was referred to as the "metric mile". There was only ever three entrants, the same three every year - it was a long way for a teenager to run. --TrogWoolley (talk) 12:59, 8 November 2017 (UTC)
 * 1,600 metres is 4 times around a standard athletics track LongHairedFop (talk) 20:31, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Which is close to 440 yards, a quarter mile. Tradition. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:43, 7 November 2017 (UTC)
 * PalaceGuard008: To further explain, I'm fairly sure the OP us just asking if there is any place where elementary school children are require to run at least 1500m. Nil Einne (talk) 07:32, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Agreed, but see Metric mile: "In track running, the 1500 m race became the standard middle distance race in Europe in the late 19th century, and has been the standard distance in the Olympic Games since 1896. The distance of the race is sometimes referred to as a metric mile... The standard middle distance in many United States high school competitions is 1600 m and this distance is sometimes referred to as a metric mile as well". Alansplodge (talk) 12:36, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
 * 1500m+ but's it's not too likely to actually matter. The shorter 1500 meters is the Olympic distance and America's one of the few countries that'd care about miles and they run 600 yards (548.64 meters). Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 18:15, 9 November 2017 (UTC)
 * The 1,760 yard mile is still run as a race in Europe, most notably the Dream Mile at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo. According to Mile run, the current world record is held by a Moroccan chap called Hicham El Guerrouj (3m. 43.13s) and the ladies' by a Russian called Svetlana Masterkova. But we digress.... Alansplodge (talk) 21:35, 9 November 2017 (UTC)