10-year-old injects youthful enthusiasm

What do you see when a 10-year-old streaks by on the route of a half marathon?

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Michael Holahan/Staff

Justin Hansen, 10, is the youngest competitor in this year's Augusta Half Marathon.

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A crazy kid? A prodigy? An inspiration?

Justin Hansen -- a fifth grader at Lake Forest Elementary School -- may be all of those things. Mostly, however, he should be an example.

In an era of rampant childhood obesity and a generation of kids more glued to video games and PDAs than outdoor activities and exercise, Justin Hansen and his family are an example of another way to live and interact. That a kid wants to spend time with his parents involved in a healthy activity beats the heck out of many alternatives.

So Justin Hansen -- running by himself as the youngest competitor by six years in today's Augusta Half Marathon -- is an example his parents hope might inspire other kids and families to borrow a page from their book.

"We hope this promotes families who aren't necessarily people who've always been active in life or into sports at young ages to say you can be 30 or 35 and start something like this and make it something that your family can all participate in," said Katie Hansen, Justin's mother. "It's a great thing for self-confidence in kids and adults."

Of course the fifth grader logging the 13.1 miles today has a slightly different take.

"It's fun," he said.

The Hansen family hobby began with Justin's mother. After having two boys and turning 30, she got into jogging to find a little alone time.

"I couldn't run a mile when I first started and I did a half marathon five months later," she said of a found passion that has led her to complete seven half marathons and a full marathon in Nashville.

Her husband, Andrew, caught the bug two years after Katie.

"He thought it would be a good way for us to spend time together," she said. "He realized you're obviously not going to stop doing this so I think I better start."

Andrew's interest veered to triathlons, and he completed his first full Ironman a year ago today.

With both parents hitting the road, Justin and his older brother, Brandon Brooks, would follow them around on their bikes. When Justin was 6, he wanted to start running as well.

That summer he competed in a kids' run on the same day his mother ran in the Aiken 10-miler. His enthusiasm has grown as he has. While his mother is on hiatus nursing an injury, Justin and his father run together four evenings a week covering anywhere from 3 to 6 miles around their home near Lake Olmstead or along the Augusta canal.

"It actually is not that hard," Justin said. "I started running with my dad and I got up to really far distances and he asked me if I wanted to do the race and I said yes."

Before letting Justin run longer distances like the half marathon, his mother consulted a physical therapist to make sure it wasn't too much toll for such a young body. All she got was encouragement.

"He said as long as he was actually training for it and didn't have aches and pains, go for it," his mother said.

So Justin and his father competed in a 10-miler over the summer. Justin participated in the Broad Street Ramble 10K on the weekend of the first Augusta Half Ironman last month, finishing the race in 55 minutes. It whetted his appetite for more.

"He loved all of the motivation and pep talks he got at the 10K because he was by far the youngest," his mother said. "He just likes the attention."

Speaking of attention, the discipline it takes to run has its fringe benefits beyond the fitness element. Since he took up running, Justin's grades have improved.

"It helps me to focus on stuff and be energetic," he said.

Unfortunately, it's not something that has necessarily caught on with Justin's peers. Running can be a tough sell on kids with Wiis, iPods and SpongeBob Squarepants to distract them.

"I only have one friend who likes to run track and short distances but none of them like to run long distances," Justin said.

The Hansens noticed that last year when the Miles for Medals portion of the Augusta Half Marathon was sparsely attended. The idea of it is to encourage kids to "get up, get out and get moving" by running 12 miles in any daily interval, with an adult signing off on each one. Then the fourth- and fifth-graders run the last 1.1-mile leg together on the Saturday before the half marathon, earning their own medal for completing the 13.1 miles.

Justin finished his second Miles for Medals on Saturday as a tuneup for the real thing.

Today he'll run the half marathon alone, with his parents only watching and perhaps following on bikes in certain portions. He's already run all but the Calhoun Expressway portion of the course for practice with his father, and he covered those 12 miles in 2 hours, 18 minutes.

"The next day I wasn't sore at all, which means I can push it a little bit more," he said of his ambitious goal to complete the half marathon in under two hours.

After this, Justin has even bigger long-range goals.

"I want to do the Augusta Half Ironman when I'm 15 and a real Ironman when I'm 18," he said.

It all makes his parents proud, not so much for the competitive element but the healthy example he sets for others. Would that we all might find our own way to follow his lead, whether it's running, walking, playing tennis or anything else that gets us outside and active.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.