"In such a short time, they had formed new, healthy habits that have the potential to stay with them through adulthood."
Posted on: December 9, 2013Philadelphia
13.1 miles. That’s how far seven of the middle school students at Penrose School ran on November 17. As the Health and Fitness Advocate, I had the opportunity to serve as their running leader for the Students Run Philly Style team. For 10 weeks we trained three days a week, rain or shine to prepare for the Philadelphia Half Marathon.
As we lined up in our corral on race day, I gave them my final pieces of advice before we were inevitably separated: stay with a partner, take your time and have fun. Then we were off. As we ran through the streets of Center City I could tell my running partner was on top of the world. We laughed at the funny signs, looked forward to the water stops and when we struggled, we relied on the cheers of the crowd to keep us going.
I ran with this particular student frequently during practices. From the beginning I saw huge potential in him, probably because he was one of only two students who remembered there was practice on the first day of school. Yet, he struggled to see this in himself. Whenever he would walk I would insist we run farther. Whenever he would complain I would tell him to think of something positive. He even nicknamed me “BK” for a period of time, in reference to Burger King’s slogan “have it your way.”
This race was different though. There was no nagging necessary. He had found it in himself to push through the discomfort of running such a long distance. For the first time, he was the one dictating the pace, telling me when he was ready to run and only taking brief walking breaks. Going into the last mile we decided to finish strong and run to the finish line but after just a few steps he pulled a muscle and could no longer run. The medical crew came over and offered him a ride to the medical tent but he was determined to finish the race. With almost a mile left, he limped to the finish line.
The transformation I saw in every one of my runners was astonishing. Some of the students that finished the race wouldn’t have run even a mile when I met them in September. In such a short time, they had formed new, healthy habits that have the potential to stay with them through adulthood. It is experiences like this that have made my service term so meaningful already.
