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Ryan and Sara Hall Meet with Teens Run DC
By Dickson Mercer
Washington, DC
October 29, 2010
For the Washington Running Report
Photo below: Teens Run DC director Ben Forman with Sara and Ryan Hall.
On Thursday, Teens Run DC met for practice at Cardozo Senior High School. While a marching band rehearsed and a group played soccer, members of the team, joined by adult mentors, hit the track for a couple warm-up laps, after which they sat in a circle and stretched.
What happened after that, however, was a bit out of the norm. There to meet with Teens Run DC, a Greater Washington Sports Alliance partner that seeks to empower at-risk youth through a youth mentoring and distance running program, were two of America's finest runners: Ryan and Sara Hall.
Not long before their arrival, Ryan Hall had posted on his Twitter account, "Back in the US after a most adventurous and yet refreshing holiday in Central America." The Halls, who live in Mammoth Lakes, CA, will be in DC through Sunday's Marine Corps Marine Marathon. Cardozo was their first stop.
The Halls were there simply because Teens Run DC's executive director, Ben Forman, had invited them to come and speak to the team. But the Halls, who in 2009 formed a charitable organization, the Hall Steps Foundation, were also interested in seeing firsthand a youth mentoring program the likes of Teens Run DC. Although the Hall Steps Foundation's primary concern appears to be that of combating poverty, the couple said they are also interested in starting other such youth mentoring programs throughout the country.
In its second year, Teens Run DC has 11 "running leaders" and 20 mentors, Forman said. The members, who are students at either Cardozo or Woodrow Wilson Senior High Schools, practice twice a week during the school year, during which they gradually increase their training load. Last year, all of the program's 18 participants, ages 14 to 18, were able to finish the half marathon at March's SunTrust National Marathon. Some even finished the marathon.This year, some ran the Great Anthem Pumpkin 5K in Reston. The next race on the schedule is the Veterans Day 10K on November 14, and Forman said the group plans to return to the SunTrust National Marathon.
Forman, a runner and clinical psychologist, said he was motivated to start Teens Run DC because he believes at-risk youth will benefit by having a quality relationship with a mentor and by working toward a shared goal. "We take all kids," he said. "We have kids who are in shape and we have kids who are not in shape. The idea is it's the relationship that's going to spur them forward."
Ternisha Knight, 16, a student at Cardozo, joined Teens Run DC this year. "I liked running at first, but not as much," she said. "Now I love it." She runs two miles most practices but had recently completed a roughly 5-mile run with some of her teammates.
Will Taylor, 15, also a student at Cardozo, said he saw a friend of his running while he was at a football game, and a teacher later encouraged him to join the group. "When I was usually running, it was at basketball practice," he said, "so I thought of it as punishment. It's awful. I never liked running, but I enjoy it now. It's great."
Ryan and Sara Hall, both high school running prodigies, met at Stanford University, where Ryan was able to earn an NCAA 5K title and Sara was a four-time runner-up.
After winning the USA Cross Country Championships in 2006, Ryan Hall entered the marathon scene by clocking the fastest ever American debut: 2:08.24 at the 2007 Flora London Marathon. Later that year, Hall dominated the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials before returning to London to clock 2:06:17, the second fastest marathon ever run by an American.
After finishing the Olympic Men's Marathon in 10th place at the Beijing Games, Ryan Hall finished third in the 2009 Boston Marathon. Later that year, he was fourth in the ING New York City Marathon. This year, he placed fourth in the Boston Marathon; his time of 2:08:41 was the fastest ever run by an American. Ryan Hall holds the American record in the men's half marathon (59:43, 2007).
Sara Hall is a former winner of the USA 5K Road Championships and Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile. In the 2010 edition of the Fifth Avenue Mile she finished 2nd in 4:24.34.
Running is only half of what makes this professional running couple tick. In 2008, the Halls visited Zambia in southern Africa and returned stateside with a mission of helping people worldwide secure access to clean water. Their foundation recently issued the "26.2 Challenge," which asks members of the running community to contribute $26 toward the foundation's mission of eradicating poverty.
"So we're hoping that everyone in the running community will be willing to take a small step with us," Sara Hall said, "and together we'll be able to write some amazing grants."
"This is the other part, beyond my training," Ryan Hall said. "I do the training so I can compete with the best guys in the world and the second part of that vision is to help other people."
Talking to Teens Run DC, the Halls talked about setting goals and how running had respectively transformed their lives. The teenagers asked them to share tips on pacing, how to progress in training, and nutrition. Sara Hall even taught them a couple pre-run stretches.
Ryan Hall shared some of his early running experiences. Many fans of distance running know about Hall's first run: a 15-miler around Big Bear Lake in his hometown. But Hall also told the members of the team what his dad told him before the run. Before that, he asked his son to rapidly slap his fingers against his palm, closing and unclosing a fist.
"He said, ‘This is what your heart is doing your entire life. By running, you are making your heart stronger,'" Hall recalled. "He was showing me the importance of a physically active lifestyle and the benefits I was going to not only see in my running and my training but also in my overall wellness, my overall health."
Having mentors is important, Hall said. His dad, who coached him through high school, is someone he continues to rely on for support and advice. Particularly now, as Hall regroups after pulling out of the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and his recent announcement of plans to leave Mammoth Track Club and his coach, Terrence Mahon.
Added Sara, "Running really opened a lot of doors in my life." Still, she wanted to let the teenagers know that the first miles are often some of the most painful - that is, until you "get over the hump."
"So hopefully you guys are starting to get excited about that 10K," she told the group, "... and we're proud of you guys for sticking with the program."
The members of Teens Runs DC are indeed looking forward to the next race and many appear to be getting over the hump. Before heading out for a few more miles with their mentors, they put their hands in one big pile and brought the Halls into their team cheer.
"Who are we?" they shouted.
"Teens Run DC!"
"What to do we do?"
"We run this city!"
Then, off they went.
