Sabine Medrano and Miranda Villarreal believe the best way to reach a troubled youth is jogging side by side and getting to know him or her a little more with each run.

Medrano and Villarreal are co-founders of the nonprofit Run Free Texas, a free running program for at-risk teenagers in Williamson County launched in 2012.

Both Medrano and Villarreal are seasoned professionals in helping at-risk youth. Medrano spent five years working in the juvenile justice system for Williamson County Juvenile Services and the Texas Department of Protective Services. Villarreal was a juvenile probation officer with Brazoria and Williamson counties for five years.

"When we came home to [start] our families, we were passionate about creating a program that really focused on physical fitness because that emphasizes the importance of physical health and mental health benefits," Villarreal said.

Run Free Texas offers a free 12-week running/walking program for children ages 10–17 who are going through the juvenile justice court system or are under community supervision, Medrano said.

"We work with small groups of five to eight students twice a week for 90 minutes," Medrano said. "We run with them side by side because that's where the communication happens. That's where the mentorship happens."

Since first launching Run Free Texas, the nonprofit has had about 40 students participate in the program. Medrano said the goal is to train each student to complete a 5K community race.

Medrano said some students are athletes who are unable to participate in school-based activities as result of the offenses they have committed. Other students start with Run Free Texas with little experience in a physical fitness program.

"We do have some kids that are very physically fit kids. And then we have kids that just basically put down the game console and joined us in our program," Medrano said.

Villarreal said the program aims to lower recidivism, and Run Free Texas checks in on the status of program graduates a year later. To date, only one youth who completed the program has reoffended, she said.

For students the program offers more than just time to run and jog, she said.

"We provide running shoes, proper shorts and T-shirts. We equip them to be successful," Villarreal said.

In addition, Run Free Texas has invited notable guest speakers to address the students. Speakers include former Olympic runner Francine Smith; four-time Ringside world amateur boxing champion and Run Free Texas board member Herb Fulton; and '80s Chicago Bulls basketball player Archie Johnson.

Run Free Texas board member Chris Hartley said volunteering with the organization is a great way to demonstrate his passion for running while mentoring at-risk teens.

"It gives us a chance to work with kids one-on-one so they can share a little bit about their home life and maybe challenges that they have," he said. "More than anything, they just need somebody to listen."

For both Medrano and Villarreal, the hours spent away from family to operate the organization are worth the sacrifice if only to watch a teen overcome adversity and rise up to the challenge of physical fitness.

"When you see their confidence grow, their self-esteem grow, the excitement from a new personal best and then you get to be there to celebrate that with them, it's truly fulfilling," Villarreal said.

Run Free Texas, 14900 Avery Ranch Blvd., Ste. 200, 512-788-4762, www.runfreetexas.org, [email protected]