Students Run L.A. (SRLA) began as the idea of a Los Angeles Unified School District continuation high school teacher, who challenged a group of students to train with him to run the City of Los Angeles Marathon. The premise was simple: Take a group of young people whom many had written off as under-achievers, and help them accomplish something extraordinary. The program was immediately successful. Not only did it help students complete the marathon, it helped them graduate from high school. The program soon captured the attention of the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education, which saw it as an effective and innovative dropout prevention and life skills program, and the school district became a sponsor of the program. In 1993, Students Run L.A. became an independent 501 (c) (3) organization.

          Today, that one teacher and his handful of students have grown to 250 teachers and more than 2000 students from more than 150 schools and community programs throughout Greater Los Angeles. The growth of the program has only increased its success. On average, more than 97% of SRLA students complete the marathon each year and more than 90% of the seniors who complete the marathon graduate from high school. (This compares with a graduation rate in The L.A. Unified School District of 65%.)

          Even as it has grown, Students Run L.A. has remained a grass-roots, school-based program. Volunteer teacher/leaders at each school and community program organize running clubs, which range from a few to more than 100 students. They meet three to four times a week to run and to support each other in taking on this challenging goal. Leaders also take their students to monthly community races that bring together all 2,000-plus students. Students who are active in the program receive more than 500 hours of contact with these caring adult leaders during the season. During this time, students and leaders have a completely unique opportunity to spend time together and get to know one another. These casual hours spent together are often when students and their leaders have the best discussions about good nutrition, tobacco and drug use, peer pressure, and their outlooks on school and life.