At least twice a day, a lanky 10-year-old Orem boy in a red soccer jersey and green shorts runs dozens and dozens of quarter-mile laps around his classmates during lunch or recess on the playing field at Orem Elementary School.

And though his friends aren't yet chanting, "Run, Brandon, Run," they might as well be.

Fifth-grade teacher Lynn Walker said her student, Brandon Hoffmann, recorded 852 quarter-mile laps in October, or 213 miles. In a holiday- and field-trip shortened November, he still managed 491 laps, or just under 123 miles.

Rain or shine, snow or sweltering temperatures, Brandon runs during lunch hour, recess and often, even before school starts, she said.

"He's always running. It's incredible," she said. "He's never winded."

Brandon, the second youngest of four boys of John and Lynn Hoffman, said he got motivated to run when Walker challenged her class to be the tops from week-to-week during Orem Elementary's participation in the Gold Medal Schools program. Students track their running or walking and report it daily to their teachers.

But before this fall, he'd never really run that much.

"I just felt like running one day," he said.

He estimates he's tallied 500 to 700 miles since September, and averages 10 to 12 miles each day at school. His goal for the year is to run the coast-to-coast distance from San Francisco to New York City, or roughly 3,000 miles.

At his fastest, he's logged 6.25 miles in one stint, or between 45 seconds and 1 minute per lap.

"I just wanted [my class] to win this year and wanted to get in shape," Brandon said. "My goal is to one day be an Olympic athlete."

During last month's Family Fun Run at the school for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah, he clocked a 20:20 minute 5K race, besting many adults who participated, said Orem Elementary teacher-on-special-assignment Jon Mohlman, who taught Hoffmann last year.

"He ran a 5K in sub-seven minute miles," he said.

Yet Mohlman, who watched as Brandon grew taller and thinner over the past year, isn't at all surprised by his former student's achievements in running. The boy regularly scored straight As in class, and when Mohlman dared his class to outdo him in solving timed multiplication tables last year, Brandon quietly said he could do it. One month later he topped his teacher.

"He gets challenged to do something and he wants to do it," Mohlman said. "A lot of kids talk about goals but he does them. He can see the bigger picture."

Mohlman said the entire school was inspired last year when their principal, Brad Davies, embarked on a personal life-changing running regimen and lost more than 100 pounds in the process. Even teachers are getting into the school's fitness kick and several walk or run laps before school or during their lunch break, he said.

Classes at Orem Elementary compete against one another to accumulate the highest amount of lap totals each week. For bragging rights, the top three classes get the honor of having a pair of running shoes spray painted gold, silver or bronze on display in their classroom.

For the first couple of months, Walker said, everyone in her class attempted to outrun Brandon but soon gave up.

"Now second is the new first place," she said. "Nobody has the stick-to-it-ness. His goal is to be in the Olympics. I told him he had to send me tickets."

More importantly, Walker said, her students, both boys and girls, have looked to Brandon as a leader and example.

"He's so fun and they love him," she said. "He's like the Pied Piper of the school. He's going to do great things."