You know about the Boston Marathon. But have you heard of the Half Half Half Half Half Marathon?
On a gloomy Thursday afternoon, gathered in front of the Jamaica Pond Boathouse in Jamaica Plain, scores of runners, decked out in numbered bibs and athleisure, stretched and chatted with one another as they prepared for the afternoon’s undertaking: a 0.826-mile “marathon.”
After a brief welcoming announcement by emcees — Jeremiah E. Burke High School senior Justis Porter and Boston International High School sophomore Ishmael Sanoe — the runners lined up behind the yellow-cone starting line and, with the blow of an airhorn, began the race.
The first finisher, Steve Leschuk, crossed the bright orange finish line 4 minutes and 49 seconds later; all other runners were done in under half an hour.
The race, which always takes place the Thursday before Marathon Monday, was the eighth edition of the Half Half Half Half Half Marathon, a fund-raiser put on by 826 Boston, a local chapter of 826 National, a national nonprofit organization that offers free writing, tutoring, and publishing programs to K-12 students across the country.
“We not only offer writing and tutoring, but we support students in becoming published authors. I’m really thankful that the community came out to support that effort,” said Corey Yarbrough, executive director of 826 Boston. “The voices of our young people matter. It is important now more than ever to elevate their voices and hear what they want to see change in the world.”
Student-authored books published by the organization sat on foldable tables next to registration forms and raffle prizes that participants could purchase to support both the students and the mission of 826 Boston. Face painting, a food truck from Hungry Nomads in Boston, lawn games, sidewalk chalk, raffles, and more were also on offer around the entrance of the pond.
“826 Boston’s outreach in the community is really good,” Porter, who began participating in 826 Boston’s programming her freshman year, said. “I didn’t expect such an organization to be willing to accept me as who I was — I didn’t have any writing experience, I didn’t really have any professional experience, to be honest — and [they gave me] that.”
Porter and Sanoe are both part of 826 Boston’s Youth Literary Advisory Board, a group of current K-12 students who write anthologies, collaborate with peers, and do community outreach alongside 826 volunteers.
The event was originally held on Boston Common but has been relocated to Jamaica Plain for the past three years because organizers “wanted to have it be a little bit closer to our community,” according to Kara Deese, 826 Boston’s communications director. The chapter’s office is in Roxbury, and the organization overwhelmingly serves students in the Roxbury and Dorchester areas, particularly those in Boston Public Schools.
“It felt like even more of a community event for us there, so it’s really been wonderful. We have some really fantastic relationships with many of the shops in JP, and they’ve been really great supporters of us,” she said in an interview ahead of the event.
The Half Half Half Half Half Marathon raised $19,900 (and still counting) of its $25,000 goal, as 120 registrants and 18 teams gave to the cause. A portion of the proceeds from a flash tattoo day event at Said & Done Tattoo on April 27, hosted for Independent Bookstore Day, will also be donated.
Among those in attendance was City Councilor Ben Weber, who previously visited an 826 Boston after-school program to answer questions from students about city government and to talk about soccer. Ahead of the run, he challenged the K-12 students at the pond to beat him as he runs around the pond “all the time, so I feel like [I have] home court advantage,” he said in an interview with the Globe.
While he did not win, he “looks forward to doing more stuff like this” in his community and plans to attend more 826 Boston events.
“We need more after-school programming for kids,” he said. “I have two kids in BPS, and it’s always a struggle when you’re working to find a place for your kids to go both before and after school. They’re doing a great job and they’re focusing on literacy, which is something I’ve been trying to focus on.”