By Joanne Baryard
Cross country runner Paul Roberts (number two son of Lyons head coach Mark Roberts) will appear in a “Get’cha Head in the Game” segment which is due to air in late October. Reluctant at first Paul decided to do the segment after being persuaded that this would be a way to give back to running; a sport to which he is extremely dedicated.
“Get’cha Head in the Game” is the name of segments aired on the Disney Channel during programming to motivate young viewers. The segments are roughly 2-3 minutes in length and profile children between the ages of 8-14 years that have a passion. Paul Roberts’ passion is running.You couldn’t pick a better athlete to demonstrate the perseverance needed for this sport.
Not only is he a gifted athlete, just the process Paul went through for construction of the segment gives you insight into this young man’s character.
Saturday morning during the St. Vrain Scrimmage held at Lyons Middle/Senior High School (LMSHS) on August 28, Paul finished the open 5K race in 18:50. An impressive time for the twelve year old, considering the leader of the high school boy’s race crossed the finish line at 17:16. While the remaining races of the St. Vrain Scrimmage where underway, Paul and other volunteers were filmed over and over.
The day before the scrimmage Paul and his family opened their home to the production crew (10 – 12 people) from 8:30 a.m. to nearly eight in the evening as the crew filmed and interviewed the entire family. In addition, they were on call Thursday, when the crew scouted the filming locations both at the Roberts’ home and at LMSHS. With the combination of filming on both days, Paul was nearly seven miles above his normal weekly program of 25-30 miles a week on six days of running.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The Roberts family is no strangers to camera crews. They were featured in a television spot about their participation in the DICK’S Sporting Goods’ BolderBOULDER Family Challenge*. And it is through this connection that Disney found Paul. Disney contacted the BolderBOULDER headquarters looking for a young, enthusiastic runner and they forwarded the email to Mark Roberts back in June.
Due to his age and commitment to running, Mark submitted Paul’s as a candidate. An example of Paul’s enthusiasm is: as a young runner, Paul’s running shoes were taken away as punishment and his dad caught him running bare foot.
After two requests in July by Disney for a video, Mark relented and delegated the filming task to his daughter Miriam Roberts (freshman at LMSHS). Miriam’s efforts got an immediate response from Disney who outsourced the assignment to State Line Films of Atlanta, Georgia.
Glen Owen, founder and director of State Line Films, commented to Mark Roberts that Paul was a strong individual. Working with young adults that are unaccustomed to filming has its complexities. Few are able to withstand the rigors of a project of this kind: being filmed/interviewed doing basically the same thing for 12 hours. Owen has worked on roughly 40 films; there is a “film till they cry” approach. It didn’t take long for spectators to see Paul would not cry; a testament to his character and willingness to give back to a sport that has given him so much pleasure.
*The Family Challenge is one of the BolderBOULDER team challenge categories and is scored based on age category placements. In 2010 the “Roberts Running for the King” team, comprised of LMSHS senior Melissa Roberts, Miriam, Paul, and younger brother Isaac Roberts, (age 8) won the challenge with a score of five (three first places plus Miriam’s second place finish).
2010 BolderBOULDER finish times for Paul 38:07.23, Melissa 40:19.80, Miriam 43:23.43, and Isaac 46:36.43.
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