Students are in it for the long run

Jorge Carrizal, 14, of Costa Mesa has a goal he’s set on achieving, and it’s hefty. On March 4, Carrizal and 27 other Costa Mesa students will attempt to run the Los Angeles Marathon, alongside professional long-distance runners.

But Carrizal and his peers are not necessarily doing it because they are health or exercise nuts; they are determined goal setters.

The 28 students, who come from TeWinkle Middle School, Estancia High School, Early College High School and Orange Coast College’s Middle College, are running the 26.2 miles as part of Students Run Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization aimed at helping students set their own goals and be successful. On Saturday, they held a car wash and cookout fundraiser at TeWinkle Middle School to raise money to help pay for the costs of going to the marathon, including their hotel stay and bus transportation.

“I did want to get better at sports and running, but also we’re doing this to achieve our goals, this was one of my goals, and I really want to achieve it,” Jorge said. “And it’s really fun, I’m always excited — we do long distance running every week and we go to different places sometimes.”

Since September, Candice Richards, a former TeWinkle Middle School math teacher who now works as a Newport Mesa Unified School District teacher on special assignment, has been training with the students every week to prepare for the run.

Every Saturday, the runners meet and run progressively farther each week. They also meet three times during the week for training. This Saturday, they’ll run 18 miles in preparation for their Feb. 4 qualifying run when the group will have to run the distance in five hours.

The students have sold cookies and candy bars, and it was their idea to hold the car wash and cookout.

“I just want to instill in them that if you really want something, you have to work hard for it,” Richards said. “They have to pave the way for themselves.”

The students must commit to the training sessions while maintaining good grades, Richards said.

“I push them hard, but I think I’m only helping teach them what life is going to be like,” she said. “It’s hard.”

Parents have been an intrinsic part of the process, despite the student-focused program. Parents were out, hollering along with their children, at passing cars on Gisler Avenue, trying to entice them to get their car washed.

And despite the gloomy weather and the threat of rain in the coming days, halfway through their fundraiser, the students had already washed almost 30 cars, with more pulling in to the parking lot all the time.

Costa Mesa resident Ron Renish watched as the students excitedly washed cars in the parking lot as they sang along to hip-hop music.

“I’m involved with charities and anybody who’s out here doing this type of thing for the better of the community deserves support,” Renish said.

Scott Moreno, 13, and Juan Jeronimo, 14, eagerly washed cars, despite the mild weather. As he waited to hose down a minivan, Scott said that doing the marathon and helping coordinate fundraising efforts was teaching him “discipline, manners and how to actually achieve a goal.”

John and Hydee Beth are proud of their son Jacob Beth, 12, a seventh-grader at TeWinkle Middle School. John Beth has been training right alongside John and his peers and plans on running with his son in March.

“It gives kids this age focus and teaches them goal setting,” Hydee Beth said. “Also, it shows them they can attain their goals if they work hard … It’s an individual sport and it shows the kids how they can be in control of what happens.”

Hydee Beth and other TeWinkle parents, Raecene Shoaff and Alma Renteria - whose husband was at the grill — watched and helped during Saturday’s fundraiser to show their children they support them.

“They know we support them, we are with them,” Renteria said.

The group still needs additional funds, and with this year’s marathon route starting at Universal Studios, Richards would like the kids to be able to celebrate finishing the monstrous feat at the amusement park.

Next year, the program at TeWinkle has no funds, and Richards — who, along with the other coaches, only gets a small stipend for coaching — plans on keeping the program going.

To donate, or for more information, contact Richards at crichards@nmusd.k12.ca.us or by calling (714) 424-5000. For more information on Students Run Los Angeles, visit www.srla.org.