Paso Robles students come together for the annual cross country event

Hundreds of elementary school students gathered in Paso Robles on Friday for the annual cross country event.

The 3rd, 4th and 5th graders come from the Paso Robles School District after school athletic program. The program started 8 years ago, and all six elementary schools in the district participate.

They gathered at Barney Schwartz Park on the day of the cross country races.

Carson Simoulis, a 5th grader at Kermit King Elementary School, said running in the races was fun.

“I won first place. It was fun, [but] kind of tough,” he said. “Some kids were running all the way at the beginning so they [could] tried to get there first, but then they slowed down towards the end, so I could pass them.”

Simoulis says he took first place in every race he ran Friday, crediting his running skills to all his years playing football.