Liberty High School begins after-school running club Liberty Fit

School ended 15 minutes earlier, but 178 teenagers crowded the hallway outside Liberty High School's Main Office.

Wednesday was the second day for the school's Liberty Fit program, an after-school club that trains students and their families to run the Helvetia Half-Marathon. The students who run aren't typical athletes. Most had never run even a mile. But one by one, they listened as health teacher Laurie Jenkins made her pitch. Then they signed up.

When I first wrote about the club last school year, I couldn't believe that Jenkins was that persuasive. No way a teacher would have convinced me to run 13 miles in high school, I thought. My mom used to write notes to excuse me from running a mile in PE.

"Are you serious?" I asked junior Tony Lopez. "That's the only reason? A teacher asked you?"

But over the next few months, Jenkins sent me emails, suggesting I join the Liberty Fit crew. With this year's club still five months away from starting, she ended an email about a grant the school won with, "The invitation is still there to come join us. :-)"

Jenkins is a lifelong runner who will run the prestigious Boston Marathon for a second time this year. Maybe marathons have taught her the power of enduring. Though I demurred several times, she continued to invite me to run with the group. Even if I didn't come to every practice, she said, she believed I could become a runner.

She wore me down. I wrote the club's starting date in my calendar and decided to try running with the students at least once. Wednesday morning I started begrudging my pledge. Fat snow drops splatted against my windshield as I drove to Hillsboro. But Jenkins has a power -- the kind that could convince a Southern girl like me to scamper through the snow.

By Wednesday afternoon, the snow had disappeared, though, and I stood in running pants as Jenkins delivered this year's pep talk. Pacing is important, she told us.

"You never want to come in from Liberty Fit tired," she said. "It's not fun when you're tired, and it's not correct."

We set off. "Twenty minutes," I thought. "I can do this."

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Liberty High School begins after-school running club Liberty Fit