It’s a crisp fall morning in Homewood, Alabama. Hundreds of students, plus some faculty, staff, and even parents, wait on the local Lakeshore Running Trail, ready to start a half marathon.
Once a year, all of Highlands College runs a half marathon together. And not just because they feel like it, but as part of the curriculum.
[Blast through a series of HIIT sessions to boost running strength and prevent injury with the IronStrength Workout.]
The half marathon is the cornerstone of a broader health and fitness plan built into how HC operates. Enrolled students enjoy robust gym facilities and a local health-focused meal service. Once a week, everyone participates in an intramural sport of their choice. And just as the fall semester culminates in the half, the spring ends with Expedition, a Tough Mudder-esque event that, again, includes the whole school. Students with permanent or temporary disabilities need a doctor’s note, then work with the school to find alternative ways to stay involved.
“We are really committed to that program growing. It’s a big part of our student life culture,” Mark Pettus, the college’s president since its founding in 2011, told Runner’s World from the Highlands campus.
Pettus is the driving force behind what has become a rare emphasis on health and fitness on a college campus. According to a 2013 study, the number of college students with physical education or exercise requirements is at an all-time low. When Oral Roberts University began asking students to wear fitness trackers back in 2016, the school made international headlines, an illustration of how outside the norm such policies have become.
Highlands is a Christian ministry college—graduates of the two-year program walk away qualified for work in churches or faith-based nonprofits—and HC Fit, as the college has dubbed it, is part of those faith-based roots. But Pettus believes those tenets of healthy living aren’t limited to similar institutions.
“I don’t think it’s just because of our faith stance, though it’s something we feel very passionate about championing in the faith area,” Pettus said. “I actually think this is something the world gets better than we do. There’s so much to be gained from fitness, the mental and emotional health that comes from it.”
It’s not like Highlands is a school of athletes; most students aren’t runners when they first arrive on campus. If anything, they feel immense trepidation when it comes to the idea of running 13.1 miles straight. (Prospective students are given ample warning, but when race day is just a few weeks away, things get a lot more real.)
But the first few weeks of the fall semester are an incredible incubator for group bonding and personal growth, Pettus said. As part of their fitness grade, each student joins a run group that meets weekly, led by a more experienced student who also guides them in how to train.
“The biggest win from [the half marathon] is the community aspect, how it brings the student body together in a big way,” Pettus said. “That sense of accomplishment and community is huge for us.”
Countless transformation stories have come from that journey. Pettus himself is a former college football player who let himself go after graduating, then rebounded through running (he’s run every HC half so far). Hamid Al-Dlaigan, HC’s recruitment coordinator, had never run before he was hired in 2014, and has since finished five half marathons and one full, with plans for more. Another member of the HC staff, Duncan Carter, had never exercised in a structured way before arriving at Highlands as a student. He’s since lost 70 pounds.
For Heather Archer, a current second-year student at Highlands, consecutive trips to the gym were a rarity in high school. Some 15 months into her time at Highlands, she’s now fresh off finishing her second HC half marathon, has signed herself and her family up for another local half, and hopes to run a marathon one day.
“Especially when you’re new, you’re kind of skeptical, because you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can barely run a mile,” Archer told Runner’s World, fresh from one of the last sessions of her 6 a.m. Friday morning run group. “But Highlands College has really shown me what it is to be healthy, and when you’re healthy, your mentality is better, your outlook is better.”
All that hard work and progress, often unimaginable a few months ago, pays off on race day. A slightly nontraditional course puts runners on the same path going both ways, the perfect recipe for constant encouragement, regardless of pace.
“What I love about running is the challenge of every step,” Pettus said. “Those are great moments for students, when you see them finish and know they could’ve quit. That translates so well into life, into leadership.”
Jacob joined Runner’s World and Bicycling as an editorial fellow after graduating from Northwestern University in 2018, where he studied journalism. His work focuses mainly on news and service pieces for both audiences, with the occasional foray into longer feature work and product reviews. He especially loves to highlight the journeys of unique runners and riders doing amazing things in their communities.
