L.A. model runs to support Mat-Su athletic programs

KNIK — Three local elementary school running clubs are getting some love from Los Angeles model and ultra runner Ryan Young, who’s running and raising money for them this week.

With recently awarded Mat-Su Health Foundation grants, Knik and Goose Bay Elementary were able to purchase some “incentive packs” from the 100 Mile Club, a national organization that encourages young students to meet their goals through running or walking. For every 5 miles he or she runs, a student receives a reward, including a t-shirt for 25 miles and beyond.

Young heard about the club when he signed up for the 2015 Race Across the USA marathon series that starts in Huntington Beach, California. For weeks afterward, he continued to think about ways to support the program.

“It wouldn’t leave my mind,” Young said.

Finally, he said he told himself, “Alright, this sounds like something I need to do.”

In October, Young decided to couple his fundraising goals with a racing goal: complete the Susitna 100-miler, a winter ultramarathon in Big Lake.

Knik Elementary School P.E. teacher Kurt Seamans said it’s something like fate that brought Young to Wasilla this week.

The same day Young met with 100 Mile Club Founder Kara Lubin about his fundraising and racing plans, Seamans called Lubin to ask about cost-effective ways to get involved in the program. Less than 24 hours later, she contacted Young’s publicist, Jorge Insua, with the news that three Alaska elementary schools would be benefiting from his collected donations: Knik, Goose Bay and Machetanz Elementary.

“It was just like, the stars aligned,” Insua said.

Goose Bay P.E. teacher Nancy Blake started a similar mileage program years ago, awarding “toe tokens” to students for reaching certain milestones. The students would (and still do) carry mileage cards around with them to track their progress.

“We’ve got babies here — 5-, 6-, 7-year-olds — but they are totally responsible about it,” Blake said.

Goose Bay parents George and Kristi Lopez said their daughter Makayla has taken to the 100 Mile Club goals with gusto.

“She wants to be the first girl to 100 miles, that’s her drive,” George Lopez said. “She wants to be number one.”

Makayla has inspired her parents, too, who now join her on runs outside of school.

“I got into it as well and now I’ve got the toe tokens,” Kristi Lopez said.

Insua said that shared motivation is part of why he and Young wanted to support the 100 Mile Club.

“It starts with a kid, and then a family, and before you know it, you have a whole community that’s walking, running and exercising,” Insua said.

Seamans, who helps coordinate the Mat-Su Borough School District’s elementary cross country and track and field meets, said he’s seen a significant increase in student athletes at Knik and Goose Bay since the mileage program started. At the track meet last spring, more than 100 of the 600 participants came from Knik — which is one of 21 elementary schools in the district.

Kristi Lopez credited Blake and Seamans for the high level of activity in the Knik and Goose Bay schools.

“It takes a special kind of person to do this,” she said.

Young is currently collecting donations for the 100 Mile Club — and specifically the chapters at Knik, Goose Bay and Machetanz — online at gofundme.com/RyYoungAlaska.

To learn more about Young’s somewhat unique running career, see today’s story about Susitna 100 on page B1.

For more information on the 100 Mile Club, visit 100mileclub.com.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.