Hundreds of elementary school students gathered in Paso Robles Friday for an annual cross country event.
The 3rd, 4th and 5th graders come from Paso Robles School District's after school athletic program. The program began 8 years ago, and all six elementary schools in the district participate.
They gathered at Barney Schwartz Park for a day of cross country racing events.
Carson Simoulis, a 5th grader at Kermit King Elementary, said running in the races was fun.
"I got first place. It was fun, [but] kinda hard," he said. "Some kids, they full-on sprinted in the beginning so they [could] try to get first, but then they slowed down near the end, so I could pass them."
Simoulis says he took first place in every race he ran in on Friday, attributing his running skills to all of his years playing soccer.
