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. Kids on the Run provides a family fitness and run training experience for grade school aged children.

“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.

Ennio Morricone Vergogna Schifosi Rar File on this page. “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.