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What
Paul's Wife Thinks
"This
Is Not About Me"
2011
Press Release
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Paul Staso
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While
attending the University of Montana in the mid-1980s Paul
began to explore his endurance limits... and never looked
back. In years gone by Paul has run to promote various
charitable organizations, including: the American Cancer
Society; World Vision International; and, the National
Marrow Donor Program (with which he is a member).
Since 1983 Paul has called Montana his home, where he lives
with his wife, Vicki, and their four children – Jenna,
Ashlin, Kyler and Brian.
Paul, age 45, has been a 5th
grade teacher, coached high school track and field
champions in Montana, and was selected as a Torchbearer for the 2002
Olympic Torch Relay. In 2010 he was inducted as the first
European PTA Youth Ambassador for his efforts in promoting
youth fitness globally. He prefers not to race the 26.2-mile marathon distance
(which he admits he's not fast at), but enjoys running
farther... testing his personal limits with challenging solo
endurance treks.
Paul aims to inspire and educate children to be more active
and is Founder/President of
The P.A.C.E. Fitness
Foundation. He considers his 2006 run across America as his most
special and meaningful running achievement... mainly because
with each step he kept a promise to 97 children back home.
“My coast-to-coast run across 15 states was to keep a
promise to 4th and 5th grade students at Russell Elementary
School in Missoula, Montana,” Paul says. “My wife is
the P.E. teacher there and in June 2005 my then 10-year-old
daughter, Ashlin, and I had a discussion about the
fitness level of today’s kids. She wanted to do something to
help get the children in her class more active and fit, so
we created a virtual run/walk across America curriculum –
from the Oregon coast to the Delaware coast.”
(Scroll down
to read more...)
Paul developed an web site for the kids’ year-long
undertaking, which remains online at
www.pacetrek.com/seeusrun, and many
schools across the nation adopted the curriculum. The
project that Paul and his daughter brainstormed eventually
drew the attention of governors and senators, who wrote
letters of compliment and encouragement, and local media
sources followed the kids’ progress during the 2005-2006
school year. He’s quick to note, however, that the
curriculum would not have been introduced at Russell
Elementary School had it not been for the supportive efforts
of his wife who implemented the project.
 In an effort to motivate the two “teams” participating in
the daunting 9-month trek (which were the 4th grade and 5th
grade students at Russell Elementary),
Paul made a very unique promise to them. If either class
could accomplish the journey before the end of the school
year, he would run their route for real… solo. It was a
promise that Paul was willing to work hard to keep should
the kids be successful. So, as the kids ran and walked
throughout the year, Paul prepared for the possibility of a
solo U.S. crossing.
Both classes proved to be very determined and each completed
the virtual U.S.A. trek in the spring of 2006
─
a few weeks before summer vacation, the students acquiring
an average of 3 marathon distances per child (78 miles)
during the school year. As a result, Paul ran all alone from
Oregon to Delaware, a total of 3,260 miles in 108 running
days (averaging 30 miles per day).
His grueling coast-to-coast trek took him over the Northern
Rocky Mountains, traversing barren plains, into numerous
towns and cities, across the steep Appalachian Mountain
Range, and through the second hottest summer ever recorded
in the U.S.A. – all while pushing "BOB", his sole companion
(which was a jogging stroller containing his gear, food and
water). "BOB" stands for Beast Of Burden and the stroller
weighed a total of 80 pounds when it was fully stocked. It
truly
 lived up to its name!
Paul became the 6th person in history to run solo from the
Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean across the United
States, completing his journey on October 20, 2006 after
conquering the most northerly route ever attempted. His trek
was termed P.A.C.E. Run 2006 (Promoting Active
Children Everywhere) and was watched online by
people of all ages.
Paul continues to promote youth fitness through an array of
activities. He frequently gives presentations to motivate
others toward greater health, fitness and the pursuit of
their dreams, and he commits time to developing new fitness
curriculum challenges. For the 2007-2008 school year he
developed a virtual run/walk curriculum for elementary
kids along the 2,278-mile course of historic Route 66
(www.pacetrek.com/kids66),
and for the 2009-2010 school year a 2,266-mile trek was
created to and through the national parks of the Northwest
United States (www.pacetrek.com/parksrun). The idea behind each virtual trek is for
students to run and walk toward greater fitness while
learning about the locations that they virtually travel
through. Paul believes that through this combination of
fitness and learning students experience places beyond their
school boundaries in a unique and challenging way.
Continuing on his course of promoting youth fitness, Paul
completed a 620-mile solo run across Montana during the
spring of 2008. He virtually raced over 8,000 children who
were in teams around the globe, sharing the adventure
through an educational web site. It was the inaugural
"P.A.C.E. Trek" and set the stage for Paul's most recent
endeavor which took place during the spring of 2009 - a 500
mile trek through the challenging terrain of the largest
U.S. state - Alaska. Paul logged the 500 miles in 18 days
while virtually running along with over 22,000 school
children located in 10 countries. Cumulatively, those
children logged over 118,000 miles during the 3-week
journey! Paul then did a 3-week, 500-mile solo run across
Germany in March 2010 – with over 22,000 children from 9 countries
virtually running with him. His next running challenge will
be one that has never been attempted before (click here to
see what that will be!).
 Paul
is the recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Service Award
from the Montana Association for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance. He has also received a
Healthy Hero Award from the Mayo Clinic's CardioVision
2020 program for his work in promoting childhood health
across the U.S.A., and was inducted as the first European
PTA Youth Ambassador. Paul's ultra-endurance treks have
been featured in numerous print, television and radio
reports.
Paul grew up in Alaska, but Missoula,
Montana has been his home since 1983. He has a
strong commitment to family values and his family supports
his running endeavors and various speaking engagements. Paul
truly enjoys meeting and speaking to people of all ages.
His
message of learning to persevere through life with a healthy
body and positive attitude is one that any audience can
enjoy - regardless of age.
 Through
each endurance trek he undertakes, Paul aims to teach
children a simple idea: If you take care of your body it can
take you on some wonderful adventures. His Foundation,
The P.A.C.E. Fitness
Foundation, aims to encourage, educate, inspire
and motivate children worldwide to adopt life-long habits
toward a healthy lifestyle. The Foundation also aims to expand
children's knowledge of the
world around them and to encourage young people to pursue their goals and dreams
with the abilities they possess.
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