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Why I Run...
P.A.C.E. (Promoting Active Children Everywhere)
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Paul |
My Information
Name: Paul Staso
Favorite Runs: Long
Years Running: 33
Age/Gender: 43, Male
Location: MT, US
Date Joined: 10/26/2007
I began running competitively at the age of 10 in Alaska and competed in cross country and track & field throughout my teen years. While attending the University of Montana in the mid-1980s I began to explore my endurance limits... and never looked back.
In years gone by I've run to promote various charitable organizations, including: the American Cancer Society; World Vision International; and, the National Marrow Donor Program – with which I'm a member. Since 1983 I've called Montana home, where I live with my wife, Vicki, and our four children. I've been a 5th grade teacher, coached high school track and field champions, and was selected as a Torchbearer for the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay. I prefer not to race the 26.2-mile marathon distance, but enjoy running farther – testing my own personal limits with challenging solo endurance treks.
I aim to inspire and educate children toward greater health and fitness through my ultra-running endeavors and I consider my 2006 run across America as my most special and meaningful running achievement... mainly because with each step I kept a promise to 96 children in my hometown.
My coast-to-coast run across 15 states was to keep a promise to 4th and 5th grade students at Russell Elementary School in Missoula, Montana. My wife is the P.E. teacher there and in June 2005 my then 11-year-old daughter, Ashlin, and I had a bedtime discussion about the fitness level of today’s kids. She wanted to do something to help get the children in her class more active and fit, so we created a virtual run/walk across America curriculum – from the Oregon coast to the Delaware coast.
I developed an extensive web site for the kids’ year-long undertaking, which remains online at www.seeusrun.com, and many schools across the nation either adopted or imitated the curriculum. The project that my daughter and I brainstormed eventually drew the attention of governors and senators, who wrote letters of compliment and encouragement, and local media sources followed the kids’ progress during the 2005-2006 school year. However, the curriculum would not have been introduced at Russell Elementary School had it not been for the supportive efforts of my wife who implemented the project.
In an effort to motivate the two "teams" participating in the daunting 9-month trek (which were the 4th grade and 5th grade students), I made a very unique promise to them. If either class could accomplish the journey before the end of the school year, I would run their route for real... solo. It was a promise that I was willing to work hard to keep should the kids be successful. So, as the kids ran and walked throughout the school year, I prepared for the possibility of a solo U.S. crossing.
Both classes proved to be very determined and each completed the virtual U.S.A. trek in the spring of 2006 - the students acquiring an average of 3 marathon distances per child (78 miles) during the school year. As a result, during the summer of 2006 I ran all alone from Oregon to Delaware, a total of 3,260 miles in 108 running days (averaging 30 miles per day).
The grueling coast-to-coast trek took me over the Northern Rocky Mountains, traversing barren plains, into numerous towns and cities, across the steep Appalachian Mountain Range, and through the second hottest summer ever recorded in the U.S.A. – all while pushing "Bob", my sole companion (which was a jogging stroller containing essential gear, food and water). "Bob" is an acronym for Beast Of Burden and the stroller weighed a total of 65 pounds when it was fully stocked. It truly lived up to its name!
I became the 6th person in history to run solo from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean across the United States, completing the journey on October 20, 2006 after conquering the most northerly route ever attempted. My trek was termed P.A.C.E. Run 2006 (Promoting Active Children Everywhere) and was watched by people of all ages at the web site www.pacerun.com, which remains online as a record of the run.
Today, I continue to promote youth fitness and frequently give presentations to motivate others toward greater health, fitness and the pursuit of their dreams. I also commit time to developing new fitness/education curriculum challenges. My latest curriculum is a virtual run/walk for elementary kids along the 2,278-mile course of historic Route 66 (www.kids66.com). The idea behind each virtual trek is for students to run and walk toward greater fitness while learning about the locations that they virtually travel through. I believes that through this combination of fitness and learning students experience places beyond their school boundaries in a unique and challenging way.
My next endurance challenge will be P.A.C.E. Trek 2008, a solo 620-mile run across Montana in May 2008. I will average 34 miles per day for 18 consecutive days... while pushing "Bob" every step of the way. During the trek I’ll be virtually racing teams of young people who are located in rural communities and cities worldwide. I'll be providing children with daily educational updates via www.pacetrek.com – including journal entries, pictures and videos. Through each endurance trek I undertake I aim to teach children a simple idea: if you take care of your body it can take you on some wonderful adventures. When I'm not running along the edge of America's roadways, I own and operate a small business in Montana which specializes in web development and Internet marketing.
My next endurance trek will be P.A.C.E. Trek 2008 (P.A.C.E. is an acronym for 'Promoting Active Children Everywhere'). The primary purpose of each P.A.C.E. Trek that I organize is for K-12 students to run and walk toward greater fitness while learning about the locations that I share with them through the www.pacetrek.com web site... and which they virtually travel through. I believe that through this combination of fitness and learning students experience places beyond their school boundaries in a unique and challenging way. During P.A.C.E. Trek 2008 - scheduled for April 28 through May 15, 2008 - I’ll be virtually racing teams of young people who are located in rural communities and cities worldwide. Schools sign up teams for free to take part in the 18-day endeavor.
My daily educational updates through www.pacetrek.com will include journal entries, pictures and videos. Through each endurance trek I undertake I aim to teach children a simple idea: if you take care of your body it can take you on some wonderful adventures. The purpose of P.A.C.E. is to get kids up and moving... learning about new places... and working as teams toward a common goal.
I do not have any running logs yet.
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