In her seventh grade year, current Mission San Jose High School junior, Isha Cheetancheri, wanted to get into running. However, she realized that most middle schools didn’t have track or cross country teams. That’s when she decided to go on runs by herself after school.
“I always knew I wanted to run, but I didn’t really know of any running programs for middle schoolers in my area” said Cheetancheri, “Everything I knew was just high school teams. So I tried running a bit on my own.”
She enjoyed her runs, but admits she didn’t quite know what she was doing. The lack of knowledge led her to multiple injuries and not much progress, which caused some discouragement. However, that was the moment Cheetancheri first had the idea of starting a running club for younger students.
Once Cheetancheri began her cross country preseason practice around August, her freshman year of high school, her idea of forming a running club started to look more feasible.
“I saw how the older kids led warm ups and showed us where the runs [were] and everything, even when the coach wasn’t there,” said Cheetancheri. “So I thought, ‘This is something I feel like I could do.’”
Cheetancheri began to spread the word about her club, Middle School Milers, in the fall of 2023. She made flyers and asked her parents and family friends to share it in their own Facebook and WhatsApp group chats, knowing that many of those parents had middle school-ages kids.
The Middle School Milers’ first practice was as soon as the high school cross country season ended in November 2023.
The club’s practice was held at Mission San Jose Community Park with 30 to 40 students signed up. At the first practice, with so many students showing up, Cheetancheri was nervous.
“I was super scared because I was still a freshman,” she said. “Some of the kids that [I was going to coach were] just a year or two younger than me.” But Cheetancheri wasn’t alone. She asked a few of her older cross country teammates to help her coach the students.
With help from other coaches the club is able to safely set check points on longer runs where coaches can give out pointers, encouragement and make sure all runners are safe. “I kind of pushed the kids really hard. The farthest we ran was four miles, which is a lot for middle schoolers,” said Cheetancheri, reflecting on her first season. “In the last two years I’ve scaled it down a little bit so it’s more fun.”
Along with their main workout—usually about half-mile runs—practices also include relay-style races and games.
In the first two years, Middle School Milers was made up of students from the Mission San Jose area. With the success and confidence of two years of the club under her belt, Cheetancheri decided to expand the club.
“The people that came to the Middle School Miler’s location were all from one school,” said Cheetancheri. “It was going pretty well and I wanted to try seeing if I could give that same opportunity to other kids across Fremont and my community.”
Again, with the help of fellow high school runners she met at track and cross country meets, the club expanded to Irvington and Centerville Community parks. Each location has its own head coach with three to five assistant coaches that shadowed Cheetancheri before taking on their own group.
Communication is key to having a successful club. Cheetancheri emphasizes the importance of keeping all parties updated, from notes to parents about proper attire or weather updates, to workouts plans two weeks ahead of time with all the coaches. She also checks in with each club location once a week “to help out if needed and to make sure the quality of the coaching is something that I am proud of.”
A goal for Cheetancheri is to partner with a business, like Fleetfeet in Pleasanton, to get a sponsorship or discount code for her runner to be able to get better access to running shoes and other necessities.
Since Cheetancheri is a junior she has already thought about the future of her club. Although she doens’t know where college will take her, her goal is for the club to keep running.
“If I do stay in this area after high school, I would love to keep running it,” she said. “But if I don’t, I was planning on handing it off to one of the other kids who helps coach the program.”
For more information and sumer registration applications visit, middleschoolmilers.com/home.
