If Zoey Cook crosses the finish line of the William A. Irvin 5-kilometer race tonight, there's a good chance Colleen Roach will do it alongside her.
Cook, 12, and Roach, 24, are one of 20 pairs of children and mentors the Duluth YMCA has matched up for Running Buddies, its 20-week mentor program that promotes physical fitness and healthy lifestyles. The Irvin is the first of several road races the pairs will run together this summer as part of the program.
Cook said she likes being matched with Roach because the two run at about the same pace. Since being paired up in March, they've also discovered that they both like the "Twilight" series of young adult novels written by Stephenie Meyer.
"We like the same stuff," Cook said. "We never run out of stuff to talk about."
Roach said she also has enjoyed participating in the Running Buddies program so far.
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"It kind of lets you be a kid," Roach said. "It's just kind of fun to get involved in those type of programs."
The mentors and mentees meet once a week, at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, for an hour and a half. They start out with a run and finish with a presentation that emphasizes some aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Past topics have included proper nutrition and stretching instruction.
"I like the fact that it's very well run," said Kris Cook, Zoey's mom and a Running Buddies participant herself. "They have a lot of information about diet and running form. It's teaching kids a lot about eating right and toning up. It's pretty valuable information."
Organizer Angel Hohenstein, the Duluth YMCA's membership coordinator, said she conceived the program to encourage healthy habits and nurture mentor-mentee relationships.
"I got the idea from being a runner and thinking about the problem of obesity, how easy it would be to just go run with a child without having to really provide too much equipment," she said.
Hohenstein said most of the children in the program come from the list of would-be Mentor Duluth participants waiting to be paired with an adult.
"They don't really have a way to connect with adults other than programmed activities, so this was a way to get adults into their lives," Hohenstein said.
The adults were recruited at area colleges and at the YMCA. Many of them are interested in an incentive to start or keep running and a few are test-driving Mentor Duluth partnerships.
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"I think, for the most part, all the kids enjoy the running, and the adults, they're enjoying running, too, or learning to run," Hohenstein said.
Jack Salmela, 52, doesn't consider himself a runner, but he got involved with the Running Buddies program to try out a Mentor Duluth pairing with 13-year-old Dane Bjerklie. He called the program "a pleasant surprise."
"Dane is a great kid, and the programs that they're offering are really eye-opening," he said.
Will Ashenmacher is a general assignment reporter. He can be reached weeknights Tuesday through Friday at (218) 723-5218 or at washenmacher@duluthnews.com .
