For young people across Philadelphia, PA, and many cities like it, finding safe spaces to just be a kid can be challenging. Students Run Philly Style provides students across the city with an outlet to not only run, but to grow as individuals, and as a community. We followed the Students Run Philly Style chapter at Frankford High School in north Philadelphia on their journey to run their first ever half marathon at the Philadelphia Distance Run.

“After I first did it it was hard, but then I thought what I can do to push myself, what can I do to make it to the next level of running,” says Jaiden, a junior at Frankford High School who was one of the first students to sign up for the school’s Students Run Philly Style chapter. “Running helps with a lot of things, like thinking, stress, and other stuff that you’re going through.”

Students who participate in Students Run Philly Style receive all the gear they need to run, from socks to shoes, to fun swag like bags and hats. The students at Frankford High School meet at 6 a.m. to run during the summer. Once the school year starts, they practice after school every day and have early-morning runs on weekends as well.

"Those barriers between a young person and an adult start to break down because you’re doing something together: you're sweating together, you’re getting through each mile together...and you just connect,” says Lankford. 

Thanks to programs like Students Run Philly Style, and our other youth running partners across the country, we can support young runners as they learn to set goals and achieve beyond their wildest dreams, on and off the run.

“I hope they look at themselves and what they’ve accomplished with pride, and I hope that inspires them to continue to be an athlete, and to continue that healthy lifestyle, but also to give them that extra boost to work towards hard goals and work to achieve them,” says Lankford after her Frankford High students completed their first half marathon at the Philadelphia Distance Run.

For the students at Frankford High School, the half marathon is just a step on their journey to training for and finishing a full marathon at the Philadelphia Marathon.