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Boston Marathon champs to visit schoolchildren

HOPKINTON, Mass. (AP) - Students at an elementary school near the Boston Marathon's starting line will get a visit from the race's defending champs.

Kenyans Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop will join other elite runners at an annual pre-race rally at Elmwood School in Hopkinton on Thursday.

It's part of a program John Hancock sponsors that brings top-notch athletes together with schoolchildren.

The athletes will make classroom visits before a school assembly.

Then third-graders will get a chance to ask the athletes questions and take a jog with them.

Elmwood Principal David Ljungberg says the rally has been a school tradition for more than two decades.

He says students have been studying Kenyan culture in preparation for the event, which helps make their learning more global.