- Inmates at Utah State Correctional Facility participated in a half marathon organized by the Fit From Within club.
- The club, inspired by a documentary, aims to aid rehabilitation and reintegration.
- The club was founded by incarcerated individuals who are training for a full marathon later this year.
SALT LAKE CITY — The slaps of several dozen sneakers against the asphalt track echo throughout the exercise yard of the Bear 1 unit at the Utah State Correctional Facility Friday.
Speakers blare pump-up music as the buzzes and clanks of distant cell block doors being opened and closed occasionally cut through.
It's overcast and relatively cool for a July morning, but the 45 men running laps around the yard's third-of-a-mile track are already sweating. They've been running for an hour already, and some have an hour or more left — counting down each lap remaining to complete the 39 circuits that will total the 13.1 miles of a half marathon.
The inmates have been training for the half marathon since November, but the project has been in the works for a couple of years, after Casey Vanderhoef was inspired by the documentary "26.2 to Life," which chronicles the efforts of three men to run a marathon after being sentenced to life in prison. He pitched the idea of a running club to the prison two years ago, and after getting buy-in from an inmate advisory council and corrections officials, the Fit From Within club hosted its first mile run in January.
The club has hosted runs each month since then, with participants working up to a full marathon that is planned for November.
For Vanderhoef, who said he feels "very far away" from his wife and four children while incarcerated, the club has helped him with recovery from substance use and improved symptoms of depression.
"Coming here literally saved my life," Vanderhoef said. "I just started feeling better."
The same is true for most of the other 70 participants in the club, according to a pair of therapists who have surveyed them throughout the program.
"We have the data to prove that running is decreasing stress," said Annie Snyder.
Anecdotally, the running club and a program through which inmates hold one another accountable have helped reduce violence within the Bear 2 unit, according to Alfredo Lolani, one of the unit's leaders and a member of a committee that mentors young people in the state's juvenile justice system. Lolani said there have been fewer instances of violence in the unit, which has a waiting list of more than 300 inmates hoping for a chance to join.
"Many who come here have never learned to resolve problems; they're learning how to be prepared for reintegration," said Utah Rep. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake.
While the running club's monthly runs are a privilege, prisoners from different units and all ages are welcome. The runners participating in the half marathon included those who are just days away from parole as well as some facing life in prison.
"Active gang members, sex offenders, murderers — the only label we have out here is you're a human being," Lolani said.
"I just try to be a creator of hope ... to see that there's a different lifestyle in prison," he added. "I show by example that we're just human, and we make mistakes, and people can change."
Tyler Rogers said he's seen a "significant decrease in impulsivity, aggression and anger" in the unit where he lives, and as a fitness coordinator, he said he's learning valuable skills he hopes will translate to a future job.
"I'm just grateful to be a part of it," he said.
"Bring everybody together; that's the best thing," added Alex Mendoza, an inmate leader from unit Bear 4, who was there as a "hype man" due to a bum knee. "It puts smiles on everyone's faces, especially me. I love seeing everyone."
The program has also attracted the attention of state lawmakers, including Rep. Katy Hall, R-Ogden, an avid runner who was inspired by the same documentary after watching it on a plane.
"Are we doing that here?" she asked herself, knowing just how beneficial running has been for her own mental health.
Hall has participated in several of the runs this year and ran a few laps with inmates on Friday. She was greeted with smiles from some of the runners who remembered her.
"There's people in the Legislature that care about the people here," she said.
Lawmakers approved a new fund this year that allows the Utah Department of Corrections to accept donations to help with successful reintegration, some of which can be earmarked for new running equipment such as shoes and treadmills, Hall said.
"They feel better when they run," said Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville, who ran 3 miles with the group on Friday. His only critique of the program: "We should start them earlier. How can we get more involved?"
Ask anyone associated with the running club who is to thank for the progress made over the last couple of years, and they will point you to Vanderhoef, the cheery and charismatic man who pitched the idea. But the club will soon have to continue on without its founder: Vanderhoef is scheduled to be released on parole on Tuesday, making the run his last with the club. He dedicated the run to his son, who had his tonsils removed the day before.
Vanderhoef noted that less than 2% of the prison population has participated in Fit From Within, just as only a small percentage of Utahns have been incarcerated.
"Now we're exceptional in a different way," he said with a laugh.
Although he wasn't a runner before, Vanderhoef already has his eyes set on his next goal: qualifying for next spring's Boston Marathon. To do so, he will need to run a full marathon in less than three hours and 15 minutes before next year. To keep pace, he hoped to finish Friday's half marathon in less than 1:40.
Vanderhoef was the first to cross the finish line — though the remaining 44 runners would eventually follow — breaking through the makeshift finish tape to cheers from prison employees and whoops from his fellow runners.
His final time was 1:37.
