A group of northeast Kansas fourth-graders will take a break from their teacher keeping an eye on them and instead will keep track of her.
The 27-year-old teacher will run Sunday in the New York City Marathon with a tiny computer chip in her shoe. Amanda Wilkins' students from Starside Elementary School in De Soto can use a Web site to check her progress in the 26.2-mile run and find her finishing time.
Wilkins said she had been trying to help Starside students have a realistic view of the race.
"Some of them are like, 'I think you're going to win first place,'" she said.
Up to 35,000 runners are expected to compete in the marathon, including world champions, Olympians and other top athletes from more than 20 countries. About 2 million spectators line the course.
Her students can check her progress through www.ingnycmarathon.com or sign up on the site to get an e-mail when she passes different points of the race.
Wilkins has been using her upcoming marathon to teach math and geography, said Alvie Cater, the De Soto school district's coordinator of community relations.
Her fourth-graders have converted miles into feet, discussed time zones and used the Internet to take a virtual tour of New York City, Cater said.
Wilkins was chosen for the marathon, her first, by lottery.
She ran some 20-mile days in September. She has been running 3 to 6 miles a day recently so she doesn't push herself too much before the marathon.
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