Rovel Berhe wanted no part of doing the mile run as part of a Colorado Youth At Risk retreat two years ago, but it’s a good thing he did it.
Berhe discovered a talent he didn’t know he had. He found a sport he loves, a sport that might take him to college. And even if it doesn’t, running is teaching him important lessons about hard work, discipline and goal setting.
It’s teaching him challenges should be embraced, not avoided.
“I really enjoy my running, because you just feel so good when you’re able to run at a certain pace for this long, and you just feel like you’re invincible, really strong,” said Berhe, who is finishing his junior year at Thomas Jefferson High School. “You do feel pain, but if you want to win, if you want to push yourself, you’ve got to put the work in and run hard. In the end, you’ll have that good feeling.”
Colorado Youth At Risk is an organization that pairs at-risk youth with mentors. The primary mission is to keep kids on the path to graduation.
“You probably know the graduation rate at DPS is 50 percent,” said Berhe’s mentor, Carlos Hwa. “With CYAR, it’s over 95 percent.”
CYAR isn’t just for kids tempted by gangs, drugs or sex. It’s also for kids who just need a little adult guidance to challenge themselves in school.
“He’s an exceptionally nice kid,” TJ track coach Dave Cohen said. “He’s got an incredibly pleasant demeanor.”
CYAR kids and their mentors meet for monthly workshops, which give them momentum to progress and thrive.
“There’s studies that show there’s really two things that a young person needs to stay out of trouble and be successful — a sense of their future and an interested adult,” Hwa said. “That’s the primary role of the mentor, to remind them they have a sense of a future, to be interested and to listen.”
Berhe’s sense of the future has changed considerably since he ran that first mile at a CYAR retreat in Buena Vista two summers ago. Despite his initial reluctance, he ran away with the race in 5 minutes, 48 seconds — at 9,000 feet.
“The day before, it snowed, and I really didn’t want to do that run,” Berhe said. “I wore just a T-shirt and some sweats. . . . I went out really, really fast. Toward the end I was really freezing, and it was hard for me to move my body and my arms. A lot of mentors came at me, ‘Keep moving! You’re not pushing yourself to the limit!’ I just pushed myself, and I ran through there.”
Knowing nothing about running, he didn’t realize how impressive his time was, especially at altitude.
“In my gym class later in the year, we did another mile run, and I did it in about 5:30,” Berhe said. “My gym teacher told me that was the record for gym class. She told me I should do cross country or track.”
He did, getting his mile time down to 4:40, making all-city teams in cross country and three track events — the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters. His goal is to win a state title next season.
Berhe takes inspiration from runners such as Hicham El Guerrouj, the great Moroccan miler, and Bernard Lagat, a great middle distance runner from Kenya who became a U.S. citizen. Berhe was impressed when former University of Colorado runner Brent Vaughn, a Smoky Hill graduate, won the U.S. cross country championship in February. Berhe also sees how running teaches him lessons that help him in the classroom.
“Comparing it to life, you’ve just got to work hard if you want to be No. 1,” Berhe said. “You can be smart, but you have to keep learning if you want to be even smarter. You don’t want to stay at the same level you were before.”
Berhe wanted to run last week’s Colfax Half Marathon, but sore knees nixed that idea. The goal remains.
“I want to push myself even further and see if I can run a half marathon,” he said, “so I can possibly run a marathon when I’m older.”
And to think he didn’t want to run that mile in Buena Vista two years ago.
“A lot of people don’t like to run,” Berhe said, “and I don’t know why.”
