We are a personal growth and exercise development program for elementary school boys, grades 3-5. We have a variety of locations all around Buffalo, NY. Let Me Run inspires boys through the power of running to be courageous enough to be themselves, to build healthy relationships, and to live an active lifestyle.

“I came across Let Me Run after an Internet search, ” he says. “It was in 12 or 13 states.” But not Illinois or Missouri. Or most of the Midwest, for that matter. Undaunted, Goodrich packed a bag the following weekend and drove 10 hours to the closest coaches’ training session — in Baton Rouge, La. He learned about how to implement the seven-week extracurricular program for fourth- through eighth-grade boys: the endurance and strength-training components, the goal-setting, the character-building.

“It’s so much more than a running program, ” says Goodrich. “It’s a full-blown curriculum.” There are lessons on healthy eating, expressing emotions, being a good friend. “But the challenge was how we would spread it to other schools, ” he says.

“I didn’t think I’d convince people to go to Louisiana for training.” Instead, he persuaded representatives from Let Me Run headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., to come to him. In fall 2013, the first training session in the St. Louis area drew 32 potential coaches. Goodrich earned the informal title of regional liaison. One of the first teams to form outside of Belleville was at St. Cecilia School in the Carondelet neighborhood of St.

The Catholic grade school already had a Girls on the Run group but wanted a program for its boys. Gabriel Sison got word that the school needed a coach. “Running’s one of my big passions, ” says Sison, 36, of St. “But I wanted something that was more than running.” After the first session at St. Cecilia in spring 2014, he was hooked.

“I got a note from a parent that she had noticed a real change in her son, ” he recalls. “That’s really gratifying.” First practice In March, Sison’s third Let Me Run group at St. Cecilia gathered for the first time.

The boisterous bunch, still letting off steam from the rigors of the school day, jostle and jockey over to the front steps of the church building. One of the boys, fifth-grader William Albarran, 10, is dressed in the same lime-green Let Me Run shirt as Sison. He is one of two returners from last spring. When Sison asks why he came back this year, William mentions the end-of-session race. Let Me Run culminates in a 5K (3.1-mile) run. It starts at the Gateway Grizzlies ballpark in Sauget and “you finish by crossing home plate, ” Sison tells the boys.

“Then you get to stay for the baseball game.” But there’s a lot of work to get done before that. The practice starts, as always, with a warmup “unity lap.” The boys jog, more or less in a clump, around the block surrounding the campus. No one is allowed to pass Sison. His assistant coach, Josh Hamburg, 21, a student at St.

Submitwolf V8 Keygen. Louis University, keeps the group hemmed in at the back. That’s followed by dynamic stretches, led by Hamburg, with names like “the flamingo” — pulling one knee up to the chest — and “Frankensteins, ” which resemble the monster’s walk. In between, they talk about what it means to be yourself, to be a leader instead of a follower. Then it’s time for another loop, this one a “focus lap.” Sison gives the parameters: Run hard. Blazing down the home stretch on Alaska Avenue, Sison is in the lead, but fourth-grader Ryan Wingo nips at his heels.

“He’s going to be fast, ” Sison pants as Ryan grabs a drink. In short order, all eight boys finish the loop and are catching their breath on the church steps. “Well, that was a good practice, ” one says. They are 30 minutes in, with 45 left to go. After a round of pushups, Sison explains the meat of the session: a 25-minute endurance challenge. “Get as many laps in as possible, ” he says. “Pick a pace between the unity lap and the focus lap.” Ryan takes off with classmates Norman Davis and Diego Solis.