San Jose high school track coach launches program to help low-income kids run marathons

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Thousands of runners will take part in the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday.

Among them is a group of San Jose students who barely knew what a marathon was a few months ago.

"I did not even know what a marathon was, and I did not know how far 26 miles was," said Melanie Padilla, who will run her first marathon before she begins her sophomore year in high school.

Padilla is one of eight students from Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School who are training for the full marathon. Another student is doing the half marathon.

Padilla's classmate, Josh Rojas, used to run, but not for exercise. It was his mode of transportation.

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"Most of the time I just ran to get to other spots around the city, so if I needed to get somewhere and I didn't have a ride, I just started running. I thought it was a pretty useful skill to have," Rojas said.

The school's track and cross-country coach, Juana Galvan, organized their training.

"In cross-country, I saw how they started falling in love with running," said Galvan, who recognized the feeling.

As a middle schooler growing up in Los Angeles, she joined Students Run L.A., a running program in Los Angeles for underprivileged kids. Galvan ran her first marathon in the 7th grade.

"Running changed my life. It changed my perspective on so many things," said Galvan, who credits running with building her confidence and helping her graduate from UC Berkeley and get her master's degree at the University of San Francisco.

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She wants to give teens in the San Jose area the same opportunity with South Bay Youth Runners, a program that does not just provide training for runners, but helps them pay for the costs related to running a marathon.

"Some of these families cannot afford running shoes or marathon fees. The San Francisco Marathon itself is $450. Running is very expensive," Galvan said.

Many of the students attending Cristo Rey High School come from low-income families.

The school is located behind Five Wounds Portuguese National Church, on a small campus that does not have an athletic field. So most days, the students train by running on the streets of East San Jose.

"They're waiting at stop lights and dealing with highway entrances," Galvan said.

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Local fitness clubs have stepped in to help.

A few days before the marathon, Too Legit Fitness and Taji100 took the teens on a shopping trip to Sports Basement to buy new running shoes and running clothes.

"We have a little bit of difficulty trying to support all this with our own income. That just gives everyone else insight of what the community can do together," said Daisy Vargas, whose daughter is training for the marathon.

Tenth grader Luis Vasquez has seen the transformation. He lost 20 pounds since he started training and has a new outlook on life. Vazquez said he's gained peace of mind.

"I release a lot of stress and anxiety when I run. It changed my mentality. I have a diet now and spend more time with family," he said.

Running has given Rojas increased confidence to overcome obstacles.

"Later on in life, when we feel we can't do stuff, coach tells us to think back on the marathon. You ran a half-marathon, and you're going to run a full marathon, so why can't you do this?" Rojas said.

It's a lesson the students will carry for the marathon of life.