CINCINNATI —

Mason teacher and Sycamore School District coach John Benham is running 50 miles in one day, but it's for a good cause.

With the month of May being Mental Health Awareness month, Benham is raising awareness and help break down stigmas surrounding mental health by running.

On Saturday, Bigger Than The Trail, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, is hosting an in-person and virtual race to help raise funds for mental health counseling.

Benham has decided to run 50 miles and is asking for donations and pledges to help reach his goal of $5,000. All of the proceeds will directly supply mental health counseling for those in need.

If he can reach his goal, Bigger Than The Trail will be able to offer a full year of counseling for 2 to 3 people. Benham says the counseling is $180 a month and approximately $4,300 to $6,500 is needed to achieve this. The counseling can also be split between multiple individuals in need.

Benham will be running back and forth on Mason-Montgomery Road until he reaches his goal of 50 miles (10 times back and forth on a 5 mile route).

Benham says he's named this event 'R250' because it signifies his run to 50 as well as his 50th birthday, as Saturday is his birthday!

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If you would like to donate to help Benham reach his goal, you can do so here.

Whether it’s for the love of the game, a passion for a professional team or a drive to surpass a personal best, competition inspires us all. Very Local has put together a gripping collection of original sports episodes featuring amazing feats of physical and mental strength. Watch inspiring stories of athletes from across the United States overcoming huge obstacles streaming now only on Very Local. "Inspiring Athletes" episodes streaming now on Very Local"The Spark: Blind CrossFit Champion""Stitch: Sports and Community""Boston Rob Does Beantown: Southie On Ice""Human Race by Runner's World""The Spark: Hockey Warrior"127th Annual Boston MarathonWhere to stream the “Boston Marathon”The 127th annual Boston Marathon includes nearly 30,000 athletes from over 100 countries. From pros to everyday athletes. On Monday, April 17, special coverage of the Boston Marathon will be available on the Very Local streaming app. Starting at 1 p.m. ET, get a glimpse of the pro race, including footage of the world’s fastest marathoner taking on Boston for the first time. Download the Very Local app to stream coverage of the Boston Marathon for free.What is Very Local?Very Local is a streaming app where you can watch local daily newscasts, original series and more. Keep connected to your hometown with the news and weather team you trust and discover original series and specials that explore your community and beyond.Follow Very Local on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more.Very Local is a subsidiary of Hearst Television, Inc.

CINCINNATI —

If you missed the feel-good stories of the Flying Pig for the last year and a half, you weren’t alone. The Flying Pig was canceled altogether last year and pushed back from May to this weekend, this year.

But we have “pork-tacular” story to put you back into the running spirit. A Mason man who's proving age really is just a number.

Wayne Wheeler didn't start running until he was 37 when a co-worker was going to run the Heart Mini, which was 9.3 miles.

“And I was just blown away that anybody could run 9.3 miles. So I started to jog," Wheeler said.

But once he started, he never looked back.

“After several months I really liked it a lot. And it's taken me on a journey that's unbelievable," he said.

That was 45 years ago. Wheeler is 82 now.

"I'm middle-aged,” he says laughing. “OK, upper middle-aged!"

Despite being upper middle-aged, on this fall day, Wheeler is training for his seventh Boston Marathon. Wayne knows that sounds crazy. It sounds crazy to him.

“I always question around mile 22, why am I doing this to myself, but there I am," he said.

He's run in 700 road races in 18 states. One of his favorites is the Flying Pig.

He's run eight full and eight halfs at the Flying Pig alone.

He thrives on those dreaded hills. But it’s not all about that runner's high. It’s about giving back too. In the 10 years of running the Pig, Wheeler helped raise $356,000 for cystic fibrosis.

Wheeler’s passion has taken him down many roads and the one he loves the most is teaching kids to have a passion for running. He's coached for 25 years, the last 17 years for Mason Middle School's cross country and track teams.

The kids love Coach Wheeler as much as he loves coaching.

“He's just an amazing coach. He makes everyone better," Tyler Groff said.

And Pedro Capiello, another cross country runner for Mason Middle, agrees.

“He's just amazing. Great. He's just the best coach ever," Capiello said.

Wheeler's best pace was long before these kids were alive. In 1984, he was running a 6:45 mile. He's slowed down a bit over the years but this 82-year old is still outpacing most of us.

“I never say never and I never say always. I don't know if it's my last or not," he said.

One thing's for sure, whether it's a marathon, a few miles, or in life, Wheeler will be inspiring everyone in his path.

Unfortunately, the night of the Boston Marathon Wheeler developed kidney stones and wasn't able to race. He’s planning on running the half-marathon at the Flying Pig this weekend. So we’ll see this inspiring 82-year old at the Finish Swine.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV)-- A 12-year-old went viral earlier this year after video of her running at 17 miles an hour on a treadmill was shared on social media. But there's more to her story.

“I really enjoy doing it and it’s something I think I can go far in. And one of my main goals that I always say is I want to go to the 2024 Olympics,” said 12-year-old sprinter Jaiya Patillo.

Jaiya is well on her way to accomplishing that goal. The 200 and 400-meter track star is already a 9-time Junior Olympian.

Her father, Kevin Patillo, said he saw potential in her as an athlete early on.

“I was laying down sideways on my sofa at home and I would hear Jaiya running and I happened to look at her legs and her legs were not just walking, but they were striding. At that point, I knew she would be a runner,” said Kevin.

Since the age of seven, she’s succeeded in every competitive championship meet she’s ran in, advancing yearly to nationals in both USA Track and Field and the Amateur Athletic Union.

“We’re just proud. We’re just here to support her and be there to make sure she gets as far in life as she wants to go,” said Lt. Col. Sheree Patillo, Jaiya’s mother.

Jaiya has lived in the area for nearly four years, moving here from Ohio after her mother was assigned to Offutt Air Force Base.

“I was so excited to come here when my wife got orders to come here because I remember the Tom Osborne days and the University of Nebraska football. I said, 'Oh man, we are going to a sports state,'” Kevin said.

Jaiya has only improved since coming to Nebraska. She trains multiple times a week.

A video of one training session has gone viral online showing Jaiya running on a treadmill at 17 miles an hour.

“We had started sort of slow, we started at like 12 or 13, and we had planned on stopping at 15, but my coach said it looked like I was jogging so we went up to 17. And I could have went up to 18 but he wanted to stay on the safe side,” said Jaiya.

The video has been seen over 100 million times across multiple platforms, but despite her widespread success...

“The main thing that I focus on is staying humble, staying true to who I am and staying focused,” said Jaiya.

When Jaiya was 11, she hit her personal record times with 26.34 seconds in the 200-meter and 58.78 seconds in the 400-meter.

Her mother said she doesn’t just excel on the track — she succeeds in academics, too.

This story originally reported by Danielle Meadows on 3NewsNow.com.

It only takes a moment. And Carl Linde’s was in 2014, while he was on a bike ride training for Ironman Arizona. When a car in front of him stopped, Linde didn’t, and went headfirst into the car. “I was conscious at the time, but immediately lost feeling from the neck down. I couldn’t move anything, and I said to God, “Keep me alive—even if I’m not going to be able to walk—so I can see my wife and kids again. Well, he stuck by the deal,” says Linde, now 56. His spinal cord had been damaged in the upper trunk (at vertebrae C5 and C6), and his doctors weren’t sure he would walk again. He could breathe on his own, and he was grateful for that. But he really wanted to walk. “I spent about a month in the hospital really focusing hard on trying to move my toes. I tried every day, and after a few days, my toes started wiggling. It was a huge event—I started crying,” he says. Over about eight months in a rehab facility, he learned to stand again, and move his legs. Today, he doesn’t have feeling on the bottoms of his feet, and has little feeling in his hands. “I was left spastic down my left side,” he says. “My left leg doesn’t really turn over in a running style—it’s almost like I’m dragging it slightly,” he says. He has constant neuropathic pain, so his arms, hands, and parts of his torso feel like they’re burning all the time. But along the path of rebuilding, one day, “I really just wanted to try and do some exercise,” he says. So he tried jogging. He entered some short-distance races, and worked his way up to the Boston Marathon in 2016. Getting back on the bike—and back into triathlonBut a triathlon—a swim, bike, and run—is no marathon. You have to get back on a bike. Outdoors. When Linde earned a spot in the The Verizon New York City Triathlon, owned and produced by Life Time, he knew this was his re-entry triathlon race. He’d put his bike on an indoor trainer for the past five years or so, but the idea of competing in the Olympic-distance race that’s locally known as the “New York City Tri” got him back out on the road. (It will be held on Sunday, July 11.) “I’d always wanted to do that race. When I entered the lottery, I thought, ‘I’m never going to get in.’ But I tried. And I got in. And I said, ‘I’m going to do this.’” Rehab wasn’t easy. Training’s not easy. “Each day, even though there are days when you just feel like you’ve had enough and can’t push yourself any further, I’d go to bed and say, ‘you’ve got the ability to walk. You’re being given gifts back, so if you don’t use those gifts, it’s an insult to God’,” he says. Is there one tip he’d give to people who are injured about coming back? “I’m not sure there is a tip,” he says, pointing out with some regret that not everyone who lies in bed trying to wiggle their toes after an injury like this will have the same response, and you have to respect everyone’s individual circumstance, body, and experience. But for him, “I did desperately want to get back on my feet and was determined to try something. If you have the desire to try something, first overcome the fear that it might not be the same or feel the same. And then try it. It may not work, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know.”

CINCINNATI —

It happened in a flash.

A 10-year-old boy is in critical condition after he ran out into the path of an oncoming car and was struck in Westwood Tuesday afternoon.

It happened around 2:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of Montana Avenue outside of a crosswalk.

He ran right into the path of a white Chrysler 200.

"The car saw him at the last minute and tried to stop real fast," the woman said.

She said she called 911 as the boy's brother carried him out of the street.

Investigators said the boy was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He is currently listed in critical but stable condition.

Neighbors are hoping for the best.

Some were nearby as the boy ran into the path of a car outside of a crosswalk. They said there was nothing they could do.

"I was crying, screaming Jesus name. His mom was crying," a woman who did not want to be identified said.

That woman did not want to share her name or show her face in an interview, but the pain of the situation could be heard in her voice as she recounted a horrific crash steps from her porch.

"Quick as you can blink your eye, it happened fast. I had close my eyes because I knew he wasn't making it across that street, you know, I saw it and I just did like this and I heard it, 'boom' and then I opened my eyes and he was laying on the ground," she said.

The driver was visibly upset and police said he cooperated completely. Cincinnati police said he was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash and wasn't injured.

Excessive speed and impairment do not appear to be factors in the crash.

Neighbors said the area is packed with cars and kids.

"It's a rarity that kids run out in the street, but it's always busy. It's constantly with kids," neighbor Holly Kenerly said.

They said this scene is a reminder of the danger anytime anyone steps off of one of these curbs.

"Just be mindful. Be mindful of your surroundings. Kids, adults, drivers," Kenerly said.

We were unable to talk with any of the boy's family about how he is doing.

Neighbors said they are praying for all involved.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department's Traffic Unit at 513-352-2514.

Dontaye Carter pauses to think what he would want George Floyd to know.

He takes a long breath before growing emotional as he lists what he wishes he could apologize for: that Floyd's life wasn't valued, that an officer didn't think enough to "take that knee off your neck."

And then there is the deep pain as Carter speaks of Floyd's daughter, and his three-year-old daughter Kyleigh.

"He's not going to be here for his little girl," Carter says, with tears rolling down his face. "That's the part that hit me the hardest."

Carter was one of many activists protesting in the wake of Floyd's murder in Minneapolis at the hands of police. And now a year later, Floyd's death is a big part of the reason why many activists are running for local office across the country.

Carter decided to run for mayor in Sandy Springs, Georgia, after he said he grew emotionally exhausted from attending what felt like unending protests for Black people killed during police encounters and other racists attacks.

"Everything that you're fighting for you can change," he recalls telling himself.

Videos capturing the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man shot and killed while running in a Georgia neighborhood, and George Floyd gave him something to point out the inequalities Carter knew, but perhaps others hadn't seen.

For Carter, it's about more than just social justice movements. He believes his city's leadership, especially the executive office, should reflect the population. Sandy Springs is the second-largest city in the metro Atlanta area. The once predominantly White community, criticized by some for a history rooted in segregation, is now made up of more than 40% racial minorities.

For Carter and other activists-turned-political candidates, making the decision to run felt like an actionable step after a year of such frustration and anger. Their runs, channeling that pain into political power, mirror the path of activists who ran for office after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Or the throngs of women who ran for office after the election of President Donald Trump.

"I'll be honest, that was the first time I've ever felt like I had control over my life, like I made a decision that I control that decision from top to bottom, Carter said, describing the moment he filed paperwork to run for office.

He says it was a welcome feeling after the hopelessness of watching the more than nine-minute video that captured Floyd's death.

Twenty-three-year-old Chi Ossé says he cannot shake how he felt after watching the video.

"It filled me with anger, and it filled me with this passion to stand up and do something about it," Ossé said. "I wish no Black person was killed by law enforcement, but what (Floyd) started is something that's going to create some everlasting change for individuals that look like him, and look like me."

Ossé is running for a seat on the city council representing his district in Brooklyn, New York. If elected, he would become one of the youngest, and one of the first self-described queer city council members in New York City.

He created a name for himself while leading marches and protests following the deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot and killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky.

Isolation due to COVID-19 quarantine, combined with the Floyd video helped elevate the young man's push for social justice and systemic reform.

"I think this one hit differently because of the quarantine and isolation that I was in.

You know I was unable to look away from these videos, and these images that many of us were seeing," Osse explains.

LaTonya Tate is not new to the fight to make the justice system more just. As a Black woman in the South and part of a family with a history of activism, it has been ever-present. And as a retired parole officer, she knows a good deal about the justice system and its failures.

In the video of Floyd's death, she saw those failures play out in agonizing detail.

"I wasn't taught that in our academy," Tate said. "If a threat is not there, and the person is in handcuffs, you have policies and procedures that you have to follow."

She believes she can lead desperately needed and uncomfortable conversations if she is elected to the city council in Birmingham, Alabama.

"We can no longer ignore what is going on. Now, we've got to have these hard conversations whether people want to have them or not," Tate said.

Tate took on criminal justice reform years before protests for Floyd took over streets across the country. After her own son was incarcerated, she experienced the justice system's complexities, and was inspired to create the Alabama Justice Initiative, a social justice group pushing to end mass incarceration.

As Tate campaigns for office, she walks through Birmingham's Kelly Ingram Park, a historic gathering point, whose walkways are lined with statues dedicated to civil rights icons, including Martin Luther King Jr. The park served as a place for demonstrations in the 1960s and again for George Floyd in 2020.

Those demonstrations in the 1960s, and others throughout the South, helped propel many prominent activists to move into politics, including Andrew Young, one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most trusted advisers who later became mayor of Atlanta. The late Rep. John Lewis, who survived a brutal beating by state troopers during a landmark 1965 march in Selma, Alabama, became a towering figure of the civil rights movement before being elected to Atlanta's City Council and later to Congress. Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist in Ferguson, won a House seat in Missouri, becoming the state's first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.

The park, and the movement it pays tribute to, reminds Tate of the history of segregation and racism, including the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham as well as her own family's activism in the movement.

Tate is advocating for community policing. She believes in reallocating funds from police to invest in the community with mental health training, health care, education, youth programs and social services.

Francois Alexandre believes that a community policing role is crucial for accountability. It's what he'd like to change when it comes to law enforcement in his district in Miami if he wins a seat on the Miami City Commission.

For Alexandre, 35, Floyd's murder took him back to June 2013.

After the Miami Heat won the NBA championship, Alexandre found himself among a crowd gathered near his apartment. According to the police report, police received reports of the crowd overturning cars. Police formed a line in front of the crowd. Alexandre began filming on his cell phone and can be heard shouting at police as they stood in formation. As the tension escalated and police moved in, cell phone and surveillance video show an officer grab Alexandre in a chokehold.

"They just started pounding on me," Alexandre says.

Alexandre says he woke up in the hospital with a bruised face, a broken eye socket and an injured shoulder. In a court order, a federal judge indicated the officers' "use of force was excessive" in an order saying the case should go to trial for violating fourth amendment rights. The Miami Police Department said they would not comment on the case because of pending litigation.

Alexandre says he doesn't talk about that night often. He was 27 years old then and says he was worried about getting arrested and kicked out of school. Seven years later, the video of George Floyd reignited his desire to fight for social justice. He points out he got to come home, but Floyd didn't.

"George Floyd's life didn't have to be taken," he said. "Nor did I have to be beaten."

Charlotte, North Carolina City Council member Braxton Winston knows the path these activists are taking well. He was the subject of an iconic photo depicting the tension between police and protesters after an officer shot and killed Keith Scott, a Black Charlotte resident in 2016. The photo captures a shirtless Winston displaying a raised fist as he faced baton-holding police officers. Shortly after, he says he decided to run for office to "disrupt the status quo" and was elected in 2017.

"We've had a long history of electing Black, and brown, and women," Winston says. "It's not just good enough to get people elected, but it's learning how to use the tools of the system, to understand how to use the budget and budget processes, to learn how to understand the land use processes that control what gets developed and what doesn't. It's understanding how to ask the right questions."

Winston's gained victories to defund chemical agents for crowd control, which he says led to a broader conversation about the overall role of government in ensuring public safety. He says he has learned that support and political will are essential and in ways he is not set up to succeed.

"The most difficult thing is that this game is not set up for people like me to serve. It's set up so rich, wealthy older people can do it," Winston says. "When you pay somebody $20,000 a year to do a job that you can spend every hour of the day on, then you prohibit the working person."

The Black Voters Matter organization, which aims to increase power in the black community through voter outreach and advocacy, says efforts are underway to engage black voters and to build voting power.

In June, the organization plans to launch a bus campaign to engage Black voters while commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Rides movement, bus tours taken by civil rights activists in the '60s to fight segregation in the South.

While much has changed since the civil rights movement, there is still so much work to do, the activists say.

Carter hopes this can be a moment where the country looks deep into its soul and reckons with its past.

"We've got work to do," he says. "And we can't ignore the history of racism and the impact that it's had on this country. And I think it's not until we face these things until we face these demons that we're able to make this a more equitable society."