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Do you have a great training story? Are you running for a cause? What's your motivation? Let us know! Every tale needs to be told, so we want you to share your Marathon or Half Marathon story. Who knows, your story may be featured on our website or even be part of the race day television coverage.
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Teens runDC: Running Steady. Running Strong.
Teens runDC Program Update
Teens runDC Member Profiles
Teens RUNDC 2010 (TRDC) will challenge high school-age students to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, mentoring and improved physical health by training for and completing the SunTrust National Marathon and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield National Half Marathon in Washington, D.C. on March 20, 2010.
While running is the core activity of this program, through participation in TRDC students learn discipline, perseverance, responsibility and goal setting with the support of teacher mentors who serve as strong, positive role models.
In partnership with the Center for Self-Discovery, headed by Executive Director, Dr. Ben Forman, teacher mentors train with their students three afternoons a week for an hour with a long run or participation in a locally sponsored race each weekend. These teacher mentors assist students in their training and reinforce both the mental and physical skills as well as the personal values required to tackle this supremely difficult task.
If you’d like to run in the SunTrust National Marathon or CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield National Half Marathon as a Teens runDC fundraiser, please contact Dr. Ben Forman, Executive Director for Teens runDC at bensonforman@gmail.com or (301) 986-0626.
Teens runDC Program Update:
January 10th, 2010 - Christmas holidays have passed, and the weather has turned very cold. Running conditions have been treacherous outside – snow and ice. We are learning to take smaller steps and land firmly on our feet. We are grateful for cleared streets. We do not have the luxury of treadmills to spare us from these winter conditions. We are winter warriors. **** November 11, 2009 - Teens runDC offers at risk youth an opportunity to train for and complete a marathon under the guidance of a group of dedicated teacher mentors. In its first year, we have approximately 16 students training along with 6 teacher mentors. Dr. Ben Forman
(All pieces written by Teens runDC Executive Director, Dr. Ben Forman) Profile #1: David
We continue to run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with long runs on Saturdays. All runs are outdoors. We are learning how to dress for success: multiple layers, hats, and gloves. Not every student makes it to every practice. Those who brave the elements to run 12 or 13 miles in sleeting snow or arctic winds find the success of completion that much sweeter.
We are 16 weeks into the program with 10 to go. Students are now considering whether they will run the marathon, half-marathon, or half-marathon relay. For those students training for the marathon, we will run 14 miles next weekend. For those students training for the half marathon, we will run 10. Our goal is to have as many students as possible participate on race day. For some, there is a feeling that there is no victory without the full marathon. To these students, to all of our students, the consistent message is – if you show up to practice, prepared to run, you win whatever race you choose.
This Thursday evening, we will get together to share a meal and talk about where we are and where we’re heading – in our running, in our lives. We will support each other in our visions and commitments. We are Teens Run DC, running steady and strong to succeed in life.
I have received email messages from DC area teens interested in our program. We are taking no new students into our program this year; we will expand our program next fall. Please feel free to write. I will get back to you. Also, stay tuned for teensrundc website appearing shortly.
Dr. Ben Forman
Executive Director, Teens Run DC
This group reflects a diverse student population representative of the greater Washington area. When we started the program, many of our students (and faculty) could not run a few laps around the track. Some were doubtful they would be able to run more than a couple of miles, let alone a marathon.
Now, eight weeks into the program, most of us are running two to three days a week Monday through Friday (5 to 6 miles) with a long run or race on weekends. Last weekend, we ran eight miles from Adams Morgan along Rock Creek Park around the Lincoln Memorial and back to Adams Morgan again where we joined together for a well-deserved breakfast. Before breakfast, Teens runDC purchased running shoes for some of our students who were using shoes that were too worn and clearly inadequate. Fortunately, through slow and steady training, our injuries have been minor.
Students (and teachers) who are participating are not all athletes. In fact, most of them are not. Some kids in our program have good self-esteem and strong, close family ties. Typically, these students do well academically and have confidence in their capacity to complete the marathon. Other students in our program are in need of considerable support. They may not feel very good about themselves, may not have confidence in their abilities or alternatively may under-estimate the steady and hard work necessary to complete the marathon. For any youth (or adult) who completes the marathon, it is a worthy accomplishment.
For those kids who have had too few successes, who have felt neither seen nor understood, it will be a truly life altering experience: the training for and completion of the marathon; and the sustained attention and support from caring mentors and peers. Slowly, and steadily, we are building strength, confidence, and cohesiveness.
While it is sometimes difficult to get our kids out for their daily runs, the group almost has difficulty separating after a long run. This is a good sign. We are building a team. We are accomplishing something together; and in that accomplishment there is good feeling (endorphins kicking), and affiliation. This past Monday, we ran our six miles from Wilson High School through Rock Creek Park and back to school.
It’s now getting dark when we run. We have purchased reflective vests to make ourselves visible in the twilight hours. The days will shorten and our runs will lengthen as we enter the winter months. Shorts and tee shirts are replaced with old sweatpants, hats and gloves as we dream of warmer days, cheering crowds, and the National Marathon.
Executive Director, Teens runDC
Teens runDC Member Profiles:
Profile #2: Dagnechew
Profile #1: David
David is an 18-year-old young man from El Salvador, the next to youngest of 12 children. When he first came to this country at age 11, he along with five of his brothers and sisters and his mother and father, lived in a one-room basement apartment in DC. “We had to sleep sometimes on the floor. We got along with each other because we had to. Sometimes we’d fight; and sometimes we didn’t. It was the eight of us for five years. Then people started moving out.”
Moving from El Salvador to the U.S. was difficult for David. After 11 years, it remains so. David says in El Salvador, his life was more peaceful. He lived on a farm. People got along. In this country, he has a harder time fitting in. David’s dad works as a janitor in the building where he lives. His mother stays at home and cooks. He has an older brother Joel who works in a supermarket and is studying law in college. Joel moved out of the apartment a couple of months ago because his wife is having a baby. David had been close to his brother and looked up to him; but Joel’s very busy now and doesn’t have much time. David has another older brother who struggles with his life. Nobody knows where he lives. David worries about him.
David is in the eleventh grade at Wilson High School where academics have generally been difficult for him. He doesn’t have the best study habits; but he’s working on it. Sometimes it’s difficult to focus because he’s got a lot on his mind. He participates in JROTC where he was recently promoted to second lieutenant and works a part time job on weekends and sometimes after school.
Despite these difficulties, David stepped out of his comfort zone and joined Teens runDC this fall. Where he used to hate running, he now says it’s fun. “Running for me is like meditation. As I run, I think how I can improve myself. I never ran long distance before. My brother Joel used to run with me when I was small. He used to take me out. I liked that.” When not practicing with the team, David now runs on his own most days. He says “running is therapy for me; it helps me to plan out my life.”
David has participated in three races this year: the Great Pumpkin 5K in Reston; the MCM 10K in DC; and the Somerset Back to School Classic 8K in Chevy Chase. He finished 1st in the Somerset Classic 8K and 3rd in his age group in the Great Pumpkin 5K. During these races, David has been running 6:37 to 6:54 minute miles…an extremely impressive feat for a high school distance runner with little experience; especially for one who works 10 to 20 hours a week, is a second lieutenant in JROTC and is still working through a major culture transition.
Several weeks ago, David asked me to speak to his boss so that he might have permission to come later to work on Saturdays and train with our group. Outside of practice, he's talked to me of his difficulties, seeking advice.
For this young man, participation in Teens runDC will make a difference to his life -- not just in the training, discipline and inevitable victories, but in connecting with a more positive and embracing peer group and in developing relationships with adults who see him aside from his difficulties for the good kid that he is.
David, Member of Teens runDC
Dagnechew is a gentle and soft-spoken 16 year old, tenth grader at Wilson High School. He came to this country 4 years ago with his sister. Prior to leaving Ethiopia, he lived with his mother and aunt in a house his family owns there. His mom is still in Ethiopia because she has had a hard time getting a visa. In DC, he lives with his father in a two-bedroom apartment in Southwest. He and his dad share a bedroom.
While he has not seen his mother these past four years, he and his sister each have “ten minutes of alone time” with her on the phone each week. He values this time, but he doesn’t share too many of his concerns as he doesn’t want to worry her when she’s so far away.
When Dagnechew thinks about his own future, he says he wants to do something he likes. He dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, but recognizes he needs a back up plan. He’s thought about community college, but not too much. He also has thought about the military and participates in Jr. ROTC.
Dagnechew first joined Teens Run DC because he thought it would make him faster. When he understood that it was more about long distance training than training for speed, he liked the challenge of running 13 or maybe 26 miles. This kept him motivated. Now he says he runs because it’s fun. He says that when he starts his run or in the middle of a run, it can get really hard. When he’s finished though, he just feels good. He has accomplished something. And he likes the people. Some of his closet friends now in school and out are members of Teens Run DC.
Dagnechew has run in two races with Teens Run DC: the Veteran’s Day 10K (November) and the Annapolis Striders Anniversary 15K (December). In the first race, he ran easily with one of his teammates at a 13:44 pace. It seems the company was more important than the competition. In this last race, he ran with a faster teammate and maintained an 8:36 pace. In our most recent practice, Dagnechew ran 12.5 miles well under the pace required to qualify for the marathon. It is less an issue of capacity and more an issue of confidence. Each step of the way, as he runs further each week, he sees more of what he is capable and hopefully will run his way to the full marathon. Whichever race he chooses, he wins every day that he shows up for practice – quiet, ready to go, and able to see what he can accomplish.
If you'd like to send David, Dagnechew and their teammates some words of encouragement as they work their way to the 2010 SunTrust National Marathon and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield National Half Marathon, please contact Teens runDC Program Director Dr. Ben Forman at bensonforman@gmail.com.
Dagnechew, member of Teens runDC
