Area families, volunteers and recreation staff made up a crowd of hundreds on the playing fields off Gardiner Road for a May 11 meet that marked a Wiscasset first: hosting area towns’ running clubs for elementary school-aged children.

The event allowed Wiscasset to show off its facilities to fellow Coastal Running League members Bath, Brunswick and Topsham, Parks and Recreation Director Todd Souza said.

Dresden came, too. Wiscasset let the five-member club from Dresden Elementary School join in the meet, Dresden parents said. It was good to have the opportunity, Kristen Cowing said with daughter Abigail Cowing nearby.

“I was surprised,” the 10-year-old said about the chance to take part. Asked what she liked about running, she said, “It’s fun.”

Parents interviewed from participating towns cited the fun and the exercise as reasons they wanted their children in a running club. Some noted it was their children’s idea.

Kristen Gosselin said daughter Anna Gosselin, 8, had shown an interest. “It’s something that she enjoys. She loves it,” the Edgecomb woman said. Her daughter is also a little more social since joining, she said. “She’s having fun with different kids and making new friends.”

West Bath’s Rachel Johnson said she and husband Frank Johnson are always excited to get to see grandson Hunter Johnson of Woolwich take part in a sports event. They hope to instill in the 8-year-old the love of sports their whole family has, she said.

Orange cones marked the grass course. Participants and some of the adults walked it before the start. Maine State Trooper James Leonard, in uniform, joined daughters Anna Leonard, 5, and Kate Leonard, 6.  Learning healthy habits early is very important, he said. He also liked the experience the girls were getting in cross-country.

First and second graders run half a mile in the meets; third and fourth graders, three-quarters of a mile; and fifth and sixth graders, a mile, Souza said.

The meets are fun runs, but lead up to a championship in Cumberland, Souza said. Everyone qualifies, he said. Forty-seven children are in the Wiscasset program, now in its fourth year, Souza said.

“I think it’s awesome,” Wiscasset’s Jennifer Farrin, mother of Michelle Farrin, 6, and Brianna Farrin, 9, said. It’s something they can do with their friends, and it helps them sleep good at night, she added.