Marathon mentor helps prisoners run life’s race

Frank Ruona had already spray-painted mileage numbers on the sidewalks for the 10K race before greeting his runners, most of them alumni from the running club he volunteer-coaches at San Quentin State Prison.

“It’s been a year and a day since the last workout at San Quentin,” he tells his tight fraternity in tank tops and trunks, nearly all of them former “lifers” who were members of the prison’s 1000 Mile Running Club. This morning’s 6.2-mile run is the first that Mr. Ruona, a former Army officer and accomplished marathoner who has a whistle perpetually slung around his neck, has organized since the pandemic began.

For the men gathered here, Mr.