Cool running: How the Run Beyond Project is helping youth in need

29 August 2018

Jayson Forrest

Jayson Forrest is the managing editor of Money & Life Magazine.

Through the activity of running, The Run Beyond Project is building a framework of support to improve the confidence of youth in need.

As an avid marathon runner, David Hazlewood CFP® knows only too well the importance of working with coaches and peers to help him improve his own personal best. It’s this approach to his own training regime that saw him identify an opportunity to help youth in need through a program called — The Run Beyond Project.

The organisation was started in 2015 by David Criniti — a teacher at Chester Hill High School in Sydney’s western suburbs.

“Back in 2015, I made a decision to combine two passions of mine — teaching and running — with five students from Chester Hill High School,” says Criniti. “All of these students were new arrivals who had entered Australia as refugees from Afghanistan. They were struggling to learn a new language in an environment where they lacked the support networks that many of their peers took for granted.

“I felt running could provide a framework to build their confidence, forge new relationships, and realise the extent of their capabilities.”

The project

The Run Beyond Project is a program based in high schools, which uses running as a mechanism to help students in need. The project involves the students participating in a program that combines theoretical sessions with practical training designed to prepare them for a ‘goal race’ of between 10km and a half-marathon of 21.1km.

The project is delivered locally by teachers within their own schools to students from a range of backgrounds, including refugee and indigenous students.

The project centres on the development of life skills, focusing on goal-setting, commitment and resilience. The major emphasis is on the application of these skills beyond the completion of the project and beyond the context of running, in whatever field of endeavour students wish to pursue.

“We provide a guided and supported experience for students, through which they are challenged and have the opportunity to apply themselves to overcoming those challenges to complete a significant and satisfying goal. This instills a confidence in their abilities to apply these skills more independently beyond the completion of their ‘goal race’,” says Criniti.

Today, The Run Beyond Project is a free program, implemented across five schools on a voluntary basis outside class time. Currently, 26 students participate in the program, ranging in age from 12-19 years. By the end of 2018, the project is aims to be operating in 10 schools with between 55 and 60 student participants.

Local boy done good

Hazlewood grew up in Bankstown, not far from Chester Hill, so he knew about the difficulties of growing up in this low socio-economic area.

“I’ve been aware of The Run Beyond Project for over 18 months and could see the benefits of the project, which included goal-setting, as students worked towards completing a set distance running event.”

Hazlewood – the founder of planning practice, Knightswood House – believes the objectives of The Run Beyond Project tied in well with the Future2 Make the Difference! Grant guidelines. And the judges agreed, awarding The Run Beyond Project a $10,000 grant in 2017.

However, Hazlewood’s involvement with the project extends further than just grant endorser. He is actively involved with talking to some of the youth participating in the project about the importance of goal setting and money.

“I’ve already met with one group of kids and I’m looking to become more involved with the project by providing participants with an introduction to money,” he says.

“As these kids come from disadvantaged backgrounds, it’s an opportunity to discuss with them the issues they are having with money. It’s an interactive project. I want to show them the importance of education, of goal setting, budgeting and saving.”

More broadly, the project is providing opportunities for students to engage in the pursuit of healthy, challenging and rewarding goals. It provides opportunities for them to develop skills to overcome the challenges they face. It provides them with recognition for their achievements in doing this and with a confidence that they can continue to do this as they are faced with other challenges going forward.

“The project also provides the students with a portal into the running community, which promotes a healthy, active lifestyle,” Criniti adds.

“It provides students with a sense of belonging to the project itself, their school team, and this running community. In a broader sense, it raises students’ awareness of the value of communities in whatever field they pursue.”

A lean operation

The Future2 grant has contributed towards the project’s ongoing costs relating to the provision of shoes and apparel for students, their travel expenses to races, and the printing costs for the resources and materials to assist students with their goal setting, such as training plans and training diaries.

“It’s a low budget and lean operation,” Criniti says. “Having commenced in 2015, the project has expanded into four schools and is continuing to develop partnerships to promote further growth in areas of high need.

“We require $2,000 per school for shoes, running apparel, curriculum materials and travel expenses to races, so the generosity of grants, like Future2’s, are needed to continue to help more disadvantaged students in more schools.”

Through his involvement with The Run Beyond Project, Hazlewood is pleased to see the program successfully foster a culture of achievement, improved self-esteem and goal setting for these students, with their achievements celebrated within their school.

“This recognition is not only rewarding for participants, but provides positive examples to the broader student body and the wider community in which they live,” he says.

About the Run Beyond Project

The Run Beyond Project was founded in 2015 when teacher and marathon enthusiast, David Criniti persuaded five of his Chester Hill High School students, all from refugee backgrounds, to train for a half-marathon.

A program was developed to ensure that, as the boys progressed towards their goal, they acquired some valuable skills that could be applied to enable them to excel in all areas of their lives, beyond the context of running.

The Run Beyond Project soon expanded (and is continuing to do so) to include more students in need, and it aims to use running as a mechanism to teach these high school students about goal setting, commitment and resilience.

Students commit to a fun but challenging program requiring them to complete theoretical and practical components, as they prepare to compete a goals-based race, ranging from 10km to a half-marathon.

Students have interim commitments along the course of their journey, which ensure they are physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to complete their goal, and to overcome challenges along the way.

  • You may also be interested in