Thousands of children runners from Waterbury schools and beyond will complete the final mile of a marathon they’ve been running incrementally over the past few weeks.

We’re expecting more than 2,300 young runners to hit Downtown Waterbury today - June 2 - at 5:30 p.m. for the last leg of the annual Rod Dixon Kids Marathon. Mr. Dixon, a world-renowned marathon runner from New Zealand, will be on hand to greet the runners, as will former NBA star and Waterbury native Ryan Gomes along with elected officials.

In addition to students from Waterbury public and parochial schools, this year we’ll be joined by young runners from Mary Magdalene School in Oakville, One Webster Hill School in West Hartford and Strong Elementary School in Planstville.

The sight of 2,000-plus runners jogging down Grand Street in Downtown Waterbury is certainly a vision to behold. We hope to see you today - June 2 - at 5:30 p.m.