Every morning, kindergartners at St. Francis Xavier Elementary have been eagerly lining up and heading to the playground behind the school.

Leaving the back door and walking down the steps, they pass swings. And then they pass hopscotch squares. And then a basketball court.

Then they line up along the edge of the fence, and they run. They circle the playground 12 times in all, until they’ve run a full mile.

The daily routine has been part of a yearlong project to promote physical fitness. It will culminate Saturday at the 29th Run Thru History. The entire batch of 5- and 6-year-olds, along with teachers Denise Sweeney and Lori Tzotzolas and a few parents, will participate in the Blue/Gray 1-miler.

The fun run will be preceded by the 29th edition of the Run Thru History 10-kilometer run and a 5K racewalk. All events in the Vicksburg National Military Park, always held on the first Saturday in March, are sanctioned by the Mississippi Track Club. As of this morning, 715 people — about 30 more than last year — had registered for the three events, RTH registration chairman Hays Latham said. The number includes 55 people for the 1-Miler, 300 in the 10K and 360 for the racewalk.

Late registration will be Friday from 5-8 p.m., and Saturday from 7-8 a.m. at Battlefield Inn. Pre-registered runners and walkers can also pick up their race packets on Friday, and Latham encouraged people to do so to ease the rush on Saturday morning.

“You can tell any class what to do. That particular group comes out here wanting to run and expecting to run. With all the other things for them to do, they want to run,” said Mike Jones, the track coach at St. Aloysius High School, who also teaches physical education at St. Francis and supervises the class running twice a week. “Any time you can get a kid who wants to run, you’ve accomplished something. And the fact that these are kindergarten kids, that’s a plus for them.”

After seeing studies that ranked Mississippi among the nation’s leaders in adult and childhood obesity, Sweeney and Tzotzolas decided to make daily exercise a point of emphasis this year. The easiest way to do that was to take the class outside for a run, with the ultimate goal of a mile.

The teachers also included lessons about nutrition, such as eating healthy snacks at lunch instead of cookies or candy, and overall fitness. The children have also learned to stretch before running, how to pace themselves to go farther and gotten tips on running technique from Jones and St. Al cross country coach Donald Roesch. Roesch’s son, Brayden, is a member of the class.

“We’ve got to get our bodies in good shape before we can run,” said 6-year-old Madisyn Miller, daughter of Keeley Haigh and Steven Miller.

Sweeney said one student, Logan Sandifer, objected when her mother tried to put cookies in her snack bag instead of something healthier. The teachers try to have each student bring healthy snacks each day, and some have insisted that their parents make appropriate purchases.

“I had one parent tell me she had to go to the store every night this week,” Sweeney said with a laugh.

Tzotzolas said she was happy with the way the students have taken in the message.

“They’ve become much more conscious of what’s going to be healthy and what isn’t. Hopefully that will carry with them through their whole lives,” she said.

The classroom lessons proved easier to learn than the physical ones, at least at first. When the running started in September, most of the class struggled to finish one lap around the playground — about 200 yards. It wasn’t until January that any of them were able to make the full mile.

To keep the students from becoming frustrated, the teachers allowed them to progress at their own pace and gave them rewards. Small plastic feet have become a prized keepsake among the students. Every time a student is able to add another lap, they get one of the toys that clip onto bookbags.

Other, less tangible rewards also bring a smile to their faces. Zane Monsour, 6, bragged about how his class did all of its running while others skirted the corners during their laps.

“We’re the only class that can do it,” said Zane, the son of state Rep. Alex and Amanda Monsour. “We were stretching and waiting on the first grade and two boys cut in the middle of the playground.”

Brayden Roesch, meanwhile, was all smiles when Tzotzolas mentioned he had run two miles with his father at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

“I kept telling him to pace himself, and he did well. We went through 1 mile and all he did was take off his long sleeve T-shirt,” Donald Roesch said. “That was the best run of my life. To get out there with your son and do something you both enjoy, you never forget that.”

Sweeney and Tzotzolas will be happy just to see everyone finish the race — and then keep going.

After the class finishes its mile at the Run Thru History on Saturday, Sweeney said they’ll continue to run each morning. She hopes the project can continue next year with new kindergartners and her current group — and, perhaps, the entire school.

“We told the kids we will still run every day. Maybe not 12 laps, but we’ll run a little,” Sweeney said. “We would love to see all of the classes on board. It’s hard to keep those 10 or 15 minutes every day as the curriculum advances, but it’s really good for them.”

If you goThe 29th Run Thru History in the Vicksburg National Military Park begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Registration is from 5 until 8 Friday night and from 7 until 8 Saturday morning at the Battlefield Inn. The fee is $27 for the 10K run or 5K walk, and $14 for the Blue/Gray 1-miler.