For years, the Anchorage School District (ASD) and partners like the nonprofit Healthy Futures program have organized several free cross country running Jamborees. The district paired each elementary school with a Jamboree in Chugiak, North Anchorage or South Anchorage. This school year’s Jamborees start September 17 and end September 26.

Most kids attended the Jamboree in their area. Not Jager. He wanted to run in them all.

“I remember the scale of it was almost unbelievable — how many people were there,” said Jager, who ran in Jamborees years ago as a Susitna Elementary student.

“I just loved it so much, just getting to be there around all those people.”

Today, Jager is a U.S. Olympic cross country skier at age 24. He’s featured in a fun short video for Healthy Futures and Alaska’s Play Every Day campaign.

Join a free running Jamboree in September

The free ASD Jamborees this school year are scheduled on three evenings in September:

• Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the Beach Lake trails near Chugiak High School
• Monday, Sept. 23, at the trails near Service High School in South Anchorage
• Thursday, Sept. 26, at the trails near Bartlett High School in North Anchorage

Each event will start in the early evening. Elementary students will run different distances, depending on their ages. Kids run in waves, along with others in the same grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade. The race course ranges from about 3/4 mile to 1 1/2 miles.

Students can attend any of the Jamborees, regardless of where they live or where their schools are located. Parents are encouraged to pre-register their children for the Jamborees at their schools. All children must have a signed waiver before participating in the event. Physical education teachers have more information about the Anchorage Jamboree in their area.

Run with Luke Jager at local fun races

Jager remembered that the Healthy Futures program invited local athletes, like U.S. Olympic gold-medal winner Kikkan Randall, to come to Jamborees and other events to cheer on the kids. Healthy Futures called those athletes its Healthy Heroes.

This fall, Jager will be one of those Healthy Heroes. In the past decade, Jager graduated from West Anchorage High School and then from college at the University of Utah. He became a U.S. Olympic cross country skier – just like the hero he looked up to at Healthy Futures events years ago. Once a Healthy Futures kid, Jager is now a Healthy Futures Hero cheering on kids as they get out and play. He will be at the Sept. 17 Jamboree and the Alaska Zoo Fun Run this Saturday, Sept. 14.

Today, Jager trains at the top of his sport. He’s used to the big stage, but he also remembers how the Jamborees felt a bit like that as a kid. He’d line up with hundreds of kids at the starting line and take off fast on the word “Go.” He’d race through trails hidden among trees changing colors and end up in a chute lined with so many families fired up to see their kids finish. Each child ended the race surrounded by cheers and awarded with a Healthy Futures medal.

“Moving and exercise and activity every day is kind of the foundation of living a happy life,” Jager said. “It just makes you feel so much better.”

Jager competed in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. While based in Anchorage, he continues training with the goal of skiing at upcoming international events.

“The Healthy Futures program and being active as a kid gave me the opportunity to learn what it is that I love to do and let me chase my dreams,” he said.