All language subtitles for Storyville.S2025E03.26.2.to.Life.Inside.the.San.Quentin.Prison.Marathon.1080p.iP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.HFR.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting
and some strong language

FOOTSTEPS JOGGING, RAPID HEARTBEAT

CELL DOOR SLAMS SHUT

My father always said to me,

he said, "God helps those who help
themselves."

I think you can help yourself
by living a good and healthy life.

Love and respect yourself
and others.

You first have to have respect
and love for yourself.

If you don't love yourself, how are
you going to love your neighbour?

BUZZING

METAL CLANKS

I feel that I've been pretty
fortunate in my life.

Steven, how are you doing?

You know, a lot of guys haven't
had the advantages I've had.

They've had a tough time
and been in tough situations

and they've made mistakes.

Typically, I don't question any
of the inmates about their crimes.

If they want to discuss them
with me,

I'll discuss them with them.

It really doesn't matter much to me
what they've done in the past.

What matters to me
is what are they doing now

and what are they going to do
in the future?

We all make mistakes and we
hopefully learn

from our mistakes and go forward.

FAINT, INDISTINCT CHATTER

CHATTER GETS LOUDER

One of the first things
that they tell you in prison

is put your feelings in an envelope
and mail that home.

You can get them when you get there.

I wasn't Christopher Scull.

I was T-24369.

I was my number.

VOICE OVER LOUDSPEAKER: 8105! 8105!

Knowing you're going to be locked
up for the rest of your life,

you've got to have ways to cope.

VOICE OVER LOUDSPEAKER: Yard crew,
head over to checkpoint.

Yard crew, head over to checkpoint.
Do so now.

# The solution is to keep movin'
forward

# Backwards ain't an option
Distractions only slow you

# The solution is to keep movin'
forward

# Backwards ain't an option
Distractions only slow you

# Down is not the movement
Up is where I'm shooting

# Give it up to God
He's the one to pull me through it

# He's the one to pull me through it

# He's the one to pull me through
it... #

We have a running group here at San
Quentin, the 1,000 Mile Club.

# I told myself not to get in
this... #

On the yard is one of the few places
where you don't have to wear clothes

that say "prisoner" on them.
You can wear your own clothes,

and you can dress just like anybody
else in society.

But it allows you to feel
like you're doing something normal,

that you're doing something
that's not prison.

It's also comprised of coaches.

They are marathon runners
that want to come in and share

their experience about running.

Named the club the 1,000 Mile Club.

The idea was to have the inmates
run 1,000 miles

while they were at San Quentin.

I have a fairly extensive running
background.

I've run 78 marathons,

38 ultra-marathons, including
a 100-mile race,

and I was a competitive
runner up until age 60.

And I enjoy coaching running.

VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE: Listen up,
everybody!

We've got the half-marathon
in 32 days.

Then 35 days after that,
we've got the two-hour run.

35 days after that, we have a
three-hour run.

And then you have six weeks, 42
days, the marathon.

November 17th.

Woo! Yeah, baby!

Now things start getting
a little bit tougher. Two, one, go!

We train the runners starting
at shorter distances...

SHOUTING: Three minutes down,
three to go!

..and then as the year goes on,
we build up to a marathon.

Three to go!
SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY

If you look at statistics,
less than 1% of the population

have finished a marathon.

So if you can go out and you can
finish a 26.2 mile marathon,

you're doing pretty good.

The thought of running 26.2 miles

in or out of prison is incredibly
intimidating, but for a lot

of people, it's the journey

of actually getting there,
getting to the starting line

and having the confidence
that, "Yeah, I can do this."

My goal is to run under three hours,
maybe qualify for Boston here.

Be the first one to do that.

I started running to stay focused
on my main goals and that's to get

out, have my freedom.
But while I'm here,

stay focused on staying right,
doing the right things.

And the board, because I know
that I had to go to the board

and I've seen so many people
after being denied five, six, seven

years, they get stressed out.

And somebody that I knew
that became a good friend

of mine, that worked at PLA with me,
he ended up killing himself.

I know it's stressful and people
handle things differently,

and I won't let that happen to me.

INDISTINCT SPEAKING OVER LOUDSPEAKER

This is my first major conviction,
my first time getting time.

I got it all at once. A double life
sentence.

I'm never supposed to go home.

But instead of letting that anger
eat me, I decided to put

in something positive and not
let these people think they're right

about me. Not let my son grow
up thinking that his dad is a loser.

I'm hoping to survive the marathon
on Friday.

If you guys have seven hours,
you might just see that happen.

HE LAUGHS

You've got a squad's notice, man.
I keep forgetting to give you...

Recent arrival.

The last time I was here was '90,
and I did not parole a better

person back there, and they didn't
have programmes.

First thing I learned was how
to make alcohol,

how to make weapons, how to slam
narcotics.

I mean, I told myself I'll never
teach that to none of these kids.

Even some of the melees
and the riots in here had nothing

on how I felt after that marathon.

What started me running
was I don't like sitting at tables

talking about prison stuff.

You hear the same stories,
but it's just a different phase.

I've been running for a year and a
half. I've got 2,500 miles in.

I lost over 55 pounds.
And here I am.

I want under a four-hour marathon.
That's all I want.

VOICE OVER LOUDSPEAKER: Yard crew,
head over to checkpoint!

Yard crew, head over to checkpoint!
Do so now.

INDISTINCT SPEAKING OVER RADIO

Today is marathon day
in San Quentin.

It's the culmination of a
year's progress.

This is what we do at the 1,000
Mile Club.

We work from a benchmark mile

up in January, right on up to 26
miles in November.

This is the only day that
we actually demand the track,

kind of sort of by proxy.

But there are guys out here who
probably wouldn't be on the yard,

just because somebody they know
is running.

They come out and support.
It's a good time.

My goal today is to complete the
marathon.

But the thing is, when I'm at six
miles, Markelle's finished.

So I want to see if I can...
LAUGHTER

Yeah, most people are halfway done
by the time Markelle's done.

Perfect day. Sunny. Perfect day.
You couldn't get a better day.

Oh, did Frank put the cones out?
Did he come in early? Yeah.

Frank did? Yeah. Did you know that
they...?

Shoes that are donated don't belong
to us.

They belong to the state, so they're
stored in these lockers.

We got to give them ID in order
to get the shoes.

And when we're finished,
we got to return them.

Hey, how are you? Jim! Y'all ready?
Great, ready.

The shoes look ready! The shoe...

At least the shoes are ready.

Buenos dias!

VOICE OVER MEGAPHONE: Let's get our
shoes on

and let's get ready to run.

INDISTINCT CHATTER
Good luck today. Good luck.

Markelle is the fastest man
in the club by leaps and bounds.

The only thing is whether or not
he's going to break three hours.

A lot of guys, they've gotten
to the halfway point.

They've gotten to the three-quarters
point, but they haven't done

the whole 26.2. For them,
today is another crack at it.

Three minutes! We're going in three
minutes!

We start in three minutes!

Hey, Jim. How you doing? How you
doing? Good to see you.

Three minutes! And you're in the
community...

Change comes from within, as
frustrating as it is... No.

Change comes from doing stuff.
Change comes from within.

What are any of us going to do
on a national level?

Who knows? Who knows?
This... Locally.

Things for me will happen locally,
if I can get my hands

on and just sort of work...

That's actually where the biggest
changes need to happen

and where the most change is needed.
I agree.

Because federal laws don't really
reach us like that.

I'm going to put the banner up.

Am I centre? Am I centre? Hey, Tone.
Am I centre? Yep.

The San Quentin Marathon is 105
laps.

The track itself entails the whole
yard.

We have our uphill turns and
downhill slopes.

We have gravel. We're on pavement.
We're on dirt.

It's more of an endurance run than
a race.

If we can keep the track clear,
this should be a very good day

for the club. This is a good day
for us.

This is a holiday for us.

All right! I want all the runners...

Left-batters!

Brad's where? Where are you, Brad?

Yeah, I'm right here.
I'm counting for you.

Hey, buddy. How you doing?
I'm pretty good.

You're going to run it?

He's got Butchie.

OK. Melody! Melody! You got...
Here's Jerry.

Jerry says he's not running.
Oh, you're not running.

He wants to count. Oh, OK.
That's all right.

The inmates in prison don't have
a lot of options.

When I'm training runners
on the outside to run a marathon,

we do a lot of long runs
and trail runs, and it's a lot

more interesting and a lot
easier to do.

The runners at San Quentin
are running lap after lap after lap.

All right. Everybody that's running,

we've been doing this for a year
now, so we should be ready.

Pace yourself.

It's game time.

OK, we're going in ten, nine,
eight...

Good luck to everybody. ..seven,
six, five, four...

May the force be with you.
..three, two, one...

Go!
CHEERING

The San Quentin marathon
is way harder

than any of the hardest hilly
marathons I ran outside of here.

I don't want to even call it
a track, because it's a loop

with six 90-degree turns in it.

That's hard. And plus, you're
running in an environment

where there's a couple of thousand
other people out in the yard

and you've kind of
got to move around them.

I mean, most of the guys
are very, very respectful, but...

You're doing great.

Is there a better punishment
than running?

That's every other sport's
punishment.

"Go run ten laps", or whatever,
right?

All right now, New York.

Yes, sir. Stay with it.

Looking good!

I have run the marathon before.

I've been hurt here and there
the last couple of years.

This is probably the toughest
corner of the course

to navigate right here.

Most of the traffic on a Friday
morning, on the hourly unlocks,

traffic is going counterclockwise
from where we're racing.

If you're not part of the race,

you're kind of oblivious
to what's going on around you,

and we're trying to stop collisions
here on the corner.

Basically, that's what we do
right here.

I'm basically a traffic cop here.

When you have a race this long,
once you get physically tired,

you start to get mentally tired.

And if one of these guys bumps
you and knocks you off your line

then you're more subject to quit.

Watch your line, fellas.
Watch your line.

Swing wide!

Hey, fellas, bad place to hold
a conversation, please!

They're working hard.

Nowhere else in competitive running

do you have to run
on an obstacle course.

Good run! Stay with it, Eddie.
Come on, Larry.

Yard down!

Yard down!

Oh, man. The yard's down.

I needed this rest
like five miles in.

HE LAUGHS

Something happened somewhere
in the prison.

Here we go. We got to sit,
no matter where we're at.

Most of the time,
it's not serious.

But if it's real long,
it's something serious.

Probably maybe
it's a medical alarm right now,

so we just got to wait
until they resume it.

So probably take
five, ten, 15 minutes.

Depends. Up to an hour.

So we just got to wait
until they say it's clear.

It's not a good start.

One thing you learn about prison,

the menu is subject to change!

And everything else...

Without notification.
Without prior notification.

It looks like a long one.
Man. I'll have a seat.

Ah!

Shucks.

I'm curious to see, like,
how a guy like Markelle

would run in the street.

He runs, like, 3.21.

I wonder, like, how much faster
would he be in the street,

where it wasn't just
the same old track?

If geese weren't in the way,
you didn't have to get up

and get down, get up and get down
- if it was under normal conditions.

Like, what would our times be?

I'm curious to see
what that would be like.

When I was a junior in the PE class,

I was running with
a backpack on full of books,

and I was beating some of the guys
that were running.

The track coach seen that and
asked me to join the track team.

My junior year, I ran the 880,

the mile, the 4x400.

I was offered a scholarship.

The biggest one was UNLV for track.

Then I had Cal State Fullerton
and Cal State Northridge

offer scholarships for track.

I didn't understand what
I was offered and what I had,

so I didn't take advantage
of the opportunity

like I should have.

The self doubt and, you know,

am I going to be able to live
up to that expectation

of what was offered to me?

I ended up dropping out, from
partying and drinking and stuff.

So that's where
the downward spiral started.

This dude can run all day.
HE LAUGHS

Day and night. He already run
all night. Yeah.

Markelle, what's going on?
How you doing?

What's up with it, man?
How y'all doing?

How you doing?
I'm all right.

I wasn't feeling good inside,
you know?

I was sad, depressed, angry.

So all my feelings that
I had bottled up inside of me,

I hid that in drinking.

I was working through the registry,

and I was also working
in the convalescent hospital,

nursing, taking care of patients.

Separated from my wife.

Living with another female,

and relationship got bad
after a year

of us being together,

and stuff got violent.

We started being abusive
towards each other,

and she ended up
getting pregnant and...

Um...

And, one day,
after working and drinking,

I assaulted her
while she was pregnant

and she had to go to the
hospital and have a C-section.

She was seven months pregnant.

Had the baby three days later,
after she went to the hospital,

I called the police,
turned myself in.

They said my son was OK, but...

..the baby ended up dying
28 days later of an infection.

Went to trial and got
a second degree murder, so...

So I did that,
and now I'm paying for it.

Markelle, er, he went
to the parole board.

He got denied, but I think
he'll make the next one.

So, he will... He will have
a shot to do that, God willing.

I think a lot of us
will get that chance.

Even me.

I started with a 55 to life,

but now I go to parole board
in 13 years instead of never,

and I think it's going
to get shortened even more.

So, we'll see.

Gotta stay in shape
in the meantime, though,

so you can have a decent quality
of life on the other side.

So it's been going for
almost...seven minutes now.

Sometimes it might be
a half hour long. Yeah.

Clear! Oh, there we go.

All right! Back at it.

Off to the races!

We've got you.

Come on. All right!
Yes, sir.

I got you. I'll check in! That's
all right, I got you, brother.

Hey. Looking good.
Way to go.

We have a pretty good strong
field here as far as finishing.

Everybody may not run 100%
of the 26 miles.

You may have some walk episodes.

OK, we've been doing 30 minutes
of running time, guys.

All right, Steve?

If I had to pick one
that might not finish today,

I think it just might be New York
on time constraints.

So, my name is Rahsaan.

I'm named after a jazz musician
named Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Another one? Cool kids are doing it.
You'll feel better. Come on!

And all my life,
no-one's ever got my name right,

or hardly ever got my name right,

so I answer to anything
starting with a "Ra" sound,

like Rasheen, Rashawn,
Rayshawn, Raheem.

As long as you're in
the neighbourhood,

I feel like you're talking about me
in a positive way, I'll answer.

New York City! New York, yeah!

Woo woo woo!

I gotta go, dawg.
I gotta get back to work!

MUSIC INTRO

This song for everybody
that kept doing

what they was supposed to be doing,
didn't fold under pressure.

Shout out to anybody that did that.

# Pressure makes diamonds

# I feel a lot of pressure

# Through the pain still smiling

# I don't want nothing less.... #

I recognised a while ago
that my voice is free.

I can reach the world through words.

My family's all the way in New York,
so I don't get visits.

But they can see my change
through my writing,

and they can see
I can be a success.

Even from prison,
I can be a successful writer.

Dying a loser, like, wasting my
life - it's my greatest fear,

and it's inspired a passion
for me to do whatever I can,

even from here.

Even if I never go home,

to be the best me I can be,

and have some kind of positive
contribution to society.

# Hard times in my hood

# Every day we trying

# Going out with no proof

# How can I fall? #

So, I'm a staff writer for
San Quentin News.

That's one of my jobs.

We just got our website up -
sanquentinnews.com.

Our online analytics show that
almost every country goes online

to check out San Quentin News.

Somebody from somewhere, everywhere.

Also a contributing writer
for the Marshall Project.

Every once in a while
I write Life Inside stories

and shoot it there.

I'm also a consultant for Amazon,
working on a project with them.

One of my favourite things

is the co-founder
of Prison Renaissance.

We're trying to build bridges
to get over these walls.

I grew up in Brownsville,
Brooklyn, New York.

It's a community with
21 different housing projects.

I saw myself getting killed, but
I didn't see myself getting life.

This is considered Brownsville,
Brooklyn.

It's probably one of the worst
neighbourhoods in New York City.

Mike Tyson is from
this neighbourhood.

You know, poverty stricken,
crime stricken,

drug addicts all over here.

A lot of shooting.

We're right in front of Atlantic
Towers, 216 Rockaway Avenue.

Me and Rahsaan was pretty much
born and raised here.

Most of the time, there'd probably
be, like, drugs selling over here.

There's probably, like,
40, 50 people

standing in front of the building.

You might, in the morning time,
guys, winos all across the street.

The environment, kind of,

is what created Rahsaan
to go where he went.

Because when Rahsaan would come
out the neighbourhood,

Rahsaan didn't look like
nobody in the neighbourhood.

Rahsaan was a computer wiz.

There was no other kid in this whole
building that had a Commodore 64

and was creating
his own video games.

He was like 12 years old
at that point.

He was like a white kid growing up
in an all-black neighbourhood.

And they called him White Boy.

And they took advantage of him,

and it was like they would punish
him for 200 years of slavery.

They were taking it out on him.

I know Rahsaan
had a lot going for him.

He was always an A student.

He didn't like it. He was like,
"Don't put me in that school

"because I don't want
to be in a special class.

"I don't want to be..."

He did not want to be recognised

as someone, you know,
above the rest.

He was a victim for so long
that just one day,

he just said he didn't want to
be a victim no more.

One day, me and him
were standing outside.

There was a guy like,
"Give up your jewellery!"

You know, "Give up everything",

and he went to rob us.

And the guy began shooting.

And in the process of the
guy shooting,

pulling away,
I ended up getting shot.

He got hit in both legs.

I took it dramatically,
like he died.

I couldn't forgive myself for it,

and I couldn't forgive that guy
for it. I just wanted to get him.

I run to the projects nearby.

I go to a drug dealer there
that I hung out with sometimes

in clubs, and I ask him for a gun
and he's like,

"Come on, man. What you gonna do
with a gun? You ain't like that."

And I said, "He shot my brother.
Give me the gun."

And he looked at me
and he took me serious,

and he gave me a gun.

And, for the first time in my life,
I used it.

I ran up on him
and shot him three times.

He lived, but I ended up
arrested for it.

I only served three days
on Rikers Island.

The case was dismissed
at the grand jury

because he had seven cases
out on him for robbing people

and shooting people
in my neighbourhood,

and he just...
He didn't testify against me.

Watch your line, please!
Thank you.

Swing wide.

Come on, you're doing good!

Here at San Quentin,
you kind of break a lot of rules

and regulations that you were
brought up into in the system.

As far as mingling and mixing
with other races.

Geographically, we basically have
African Americans over here.

You have what you would call

the Mexican Americans
in this corner.

Most of the Muslim segregation,
this is where they populate.

The northern Mexicans
are down in this corner.

You have the Native American
sweat lodge where they populate,

and, for the most part,

far corner, you have
the whites and the others,

and everybody has their own
basic area...

Track! Let them up the lane, please!

Mostly it's prison politics.

Most of these guys have
come in and they fall into

the racism aspect of prison,

and you kind of go with
party lines... Looking good!

Looking good!

Oh, that's fast.

Pretty fast!

As you get older,

you basically start to form
your own identity again.

None of us are the same person
we were 20 years ago.

Tommy...

Tommy has a swastika
tattooed on his arm,

but I'm probably one of
Tommy's biggest fans.

If you're going to reintegrate
back into society,

that's what you need to be -
a stand up guy.

So, want to do one more?
Yeah. OK.

Which one would you circle?

Er, circle the common... Right.

That would be metals.

And then underline that. Brilliant.
Got it, buddy.

Cool. Thanks, buddy.

You're always a big help.
Any time.

Cool.

I test Wednesday on my
reading language arts - RLA.

And if I pass that,
I've got one more after that,

that's maths, so hopefully I'll
have my GED no later than January.

Fourth grade was pretty much
it for me because I flunked.

And then after that, my teachers
back then they just passed me

from grade to grade.

School was never important
for me, to tell you the truth.

A bunch of BS is what I believed in.

It's weird how you get caught up

in the prison politics
and the beliefs.

Even my wife, she knew me
right when I got in my gang,

and she came up to me and she's
like, Palmdale Peckerwoods?

But she went,
"Palmdale Peckerpunk!".

And I was like, "Oh!"
I wanted to get her!

There's a lot of times
over the last 13 years

I wanted to give up on Marion and I

because I don't feel right.

Because I say, "You deserve
a person out there,

"not somebody in prison."

She's like,
"I don't care. I'm with you,

"and that's all there is to it."

Do we have it at 750?

That was the idea, to get away, huh?

You gotta wait for me!

These are the shoes
that Tommy made for me.

I love these shoes.

And you'll notice it says 26.2.

And on the back side, right here,

is the "I love you" sign
for sign language.

Now these are two bobble heads
that he made of us.

And on the side of his head,
it says "Ma and Pa tried".

I look really good.

I love the bobble heads,

and they're made out of
newspaper, soap and water.

And we entered it in the fair,

and I have the paperwork on that,
actually.

Tommy Wickerd.

For Christmas, I sent Tommy
a letter and I wrote, "Ask me".

I was like, no, she doesn't
want me to get married.

I was like, "Marion,
I'm probably never coming home."

She's like, "I don't care.
I'm with you, no matter what."

Everybody got a radio and a chair,

I was on the phone in the cell,
and we got married over the phone.

And when we got married,
Marcelle at the time said,

"Hey, they're married!" So you hear
all the bars go "de-de-de"!

"That's right, Tommy!"

We became husband and wife,
and we've been that ever since.

And I adopted Tommy II

after his mom died.

Being a wife from somebody that's
incarcerated is extremely difficult,

because all you have
is the telephone.

You watch a TV show together.

He's in prison, I'm at home.

You sit down in front of the TV
at the same time,

and you watch the show together.

We watched The OC.

Oh, my gosh. The OC was our show

that we watched while we were
growing to love each other.

It was wild.

I have the...
I have the DVD still unopened,

so if he does get to come home,

we're going to watch
The OC together.

You go to a visiting room and
you sit there and you hold hands

and you walk around,
eat vending food together,

play card games,

talk.

And that's your life as the wife
of someone that's incarcerated.

Now, when they moved Tommy
to San Quentin,

Tommy thought our relationship
would actually end.

Because San Quentin is
375 miles away from our home.

He was on the bus with this guy
and he said,

"Ask for family visits",

and we got them.

You have 46 hours together.

You get to watch TV together,

you cook together, you shower
together, you clean together,

you do whatever comes to mind
together.

And it's like living a real life.

It's... It's like
really being a couple.

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!

What's making this
family visit so special

is Tommy II, our son,
is flying in from Nebraska,

and he's going in for his first
family visit with his dad, ever.

So he's only ever had visits
with his dad

in regular visiting rooms
where you have

correctional officers watching you.

Other families, other inmates.

I've got a couple memories of him
outside, but not much.

We used to wake up
two o'clock in the morning,

line up our car outside the prison
before the prison opened its gates.

They opened their gates at seven.

We drove in, filled out our
paperwork,

went through processing,
and got to see him by, like 9:30.

Somebody will come ask me
something simple, maybe,

like, "change my oil in my car".

People change their oil
all the time.

I don't know how to do that.

My dad didn't show me that.

He can't show me
that in the visiting room.

Like, everyone's like,
"Oh, you don't know how to do this?"

"OK, who showed you that
when you were a kid?"

"Oh, my dad."

"OK." Like, how am
I going to learn that?

I can't.

So everything that I've learned,

I've either taught myself,
or YouTube.

YouTube's been my dad.

I taught myself
how to change a tyre.

I taught myself
how to climb trees,

and I taught myself...

..how to catch and throw a football.

Just...

I want to ask him why.

Like, what the fuck's your problem?

That's it.

I just...

I just want to know.

Because it's not easy.

It's not easy for me.

And I know, yeah, I'm tough...

Everything.

There's no reason that he's in there
for as long as he is.

That's all his choice.

I can understand the law's the law,

but I have the right
to be mad at my dad.

No-one's going to take that from me.

I know he feels sorry,
but tell me then.

I share my feelings. Why can't
a grown man share his, to his son?

It's like he's scared to cry.

I've only seen tears in his eyes
twice.

He's like,
"Can't let people see me cry.

"I can't let these COs see me cry."

And now there's nobody.

I better see some damn tears
in his eyes.

Or I'm gonna make some.

Hey, Siri.

Driving directions to
San Quentin State Prison.

One possibility is San Quentin
State Prison on Main Street

in San Quentin.
Do you want that one?

Yes.

Starting route
to San Quentin State Prison.

People turn away from people
when they're incarcerated.

And if you don't have anybody
to show you that your dad is cool,

or your mom is cool,

then how do you learn
to accept them?

Are you ready?

We're not allowed to take
suitcases into the prison.

It has to be bags
that have soft sides.

Bags that you can't put
any contraband in.

You have to have the suitcases
for the airport,

these for here.

It's a lot of work.

It's all worth it!

I feel like a pack mule.

I am a pack mule.

# Yeah

# All right, look

# Growing up I was never told
I could actually be

# A doctor or a lawyer
or just happy being me

# So I grew into a career
that had more pull than the sea

# Not knowing what passing moments
I'm looking more like the streets

# Pay me attention
and then buy into your dreams

# Life's a game of chess
Push pawns to some queens

# You can be what you want to be

# Reality belongs to you

# You choose what you grow into

# Who wanna be a doctor?
Who wanna practise medicine?

# Who wanna change the world?

# Who wanna be the president?

# Who wanna see the stars?

# Who wanna be a genius?

# Dreams last forever
They can never be defeated.

# I'm a dreamer

# I cannot help it, I'm a dreamer.

# I just can't help it
I wanna tell you about it

# I've been here before,
dreaming.... #

Hey, Vincent! Here we go.

Hey, Sergio. Way to go!

Looking good, man. Hey, Steve.

Take that deep breath and relax.

All right, Tommy!

Tommy! Tommy!

Don't give in, buddy.

Get some... Get some fluids in you.

All right? I don't know.
Got you.

Markelle's well out.

Well out there, but he's not
running as fast as he ran last year

when he set the record.

So hopefully he picks it up, and...

..runs a faster time,
but we'll see.

Keep drinking, Markelle!

Good work.
You're more than halfway done!

Yeah. That's smart.
If he can get some...

I mean, they're at a huge
disadvantage in terms of

running the same course every day,

and nutrition and sleep,

and having control of a lot
of different variables,

that they just
don't have control of,

but they do a great job,

taking their athletics seriously.

17 miles, Markelle! 17 now.

A big part of the thousand mile club
too is the outside volunteers.

They really make us feel
like we're part of the community.

Hello. Good evening.

How are you? Good.

What you got going on today?

We are going to do some running.

Wow, you guys are always running.

There's an old Indian saying, right?

He who doesn't feel like
he's part of the tribe

acts as if he doesn't have
any relatives,

and Franklin will make that
impossible to not feel like

you're part of the tribe,
especially Frank.

He comes in on Fridays
and every other Monday.

I haven't seen my mom
since I've been incarcerated.

So, it's been 16 years now,

almost 17 years.

So that's what I appreciate a lot

from people from the outside
spending time with me.

That's actually how
I consider having my visits.

That's what I consider family.

This doesn't happen in every prison.

You've got to remember, all I did
was hang around gang members

and do drugs and
sell drugs and hurt people.

Now I'm around coaches
that are just like...

like my mom and dad growing up -
good people, and it's...

I had to...

ALARM SOUNDS
There's an alarm, so....

HE GROANS

Well...

..they have a lot of programmes here

and you got a lot of outside people
here, but this is still prison.

Um, it gets violent.

So, um...

There's a lot of stuff
I can't really talk about

because I'm in prison
and I still have to live here.

Um...

But, um...

# See my life is not a game

# I'm just trying to make it happen
with the time that remain

# And that's why we're not the same

# There's grit and motivation
running through my veins

# My life is not a game... #

To survive in a level four prison,
you've got to really be tough.

You know what I mean?

A certain image.

There was violence a lot every day.

You have to participate in a riot,
or your own peers

will remove you from the yard.

When I was at Ironwood Prison,
it was in 2011

there was a 400 man riot.

I was strongly advised
to choose a side,

so I chose a side with the
Asians and Filipinos

because I'm half Filipino.

The other race took offence
to the person exercising

in their area and it started...

It's like a fire that starts off.

The people are fighting groups
of five, groups of 20, groups of 40.

And then it would...
You can see it move.

It's almost like a...
Almost like a virus.

# Trying to make it happen
with the time that remain

# And that's we're not the same, boy

# Just grit and motivation
I got running through my veins

# And my life is not a game

# Just trying to make it happen
with the time that remain

# That's why we're not the same

# There's grit
and there's motivation... #

So your own peers
will challenge you,

will...test you

to see if you're able
to stay with them.

I call this a big project.

You just can't leave yet.

# See, my life is not a game

# I'm just trying to make it happen
with the time that remain

# And that's why we're not the same

# There's grit and motivation
running through my veins

# And my life is not a game

# I'm just trying to make it happen
with the time that remain... #

Good job, Chris.

All right, Chris. Nice going.

Good work, you guys.
You want a drink?

Skull! Ready to go, Steve?

We're probably somewhere around the
midway point of the race right now.

Guys are looking good.

Markelle looks awesome.

He's got a nice stride going.

Jonathan Chiu, I'm gonna put my
money there on the dark horse.

Him and Steve Reese.

Let's go, Markelle! Watch your
runners in the lane, fellas.

Let 'em through.

So I've run this race, I've run
a marathon on the streets,

and it's really hard to run
around for four hours in a circle.

It's like being on a hamster
wheel on a track this small.

It's an almost
out-of-body experience.

# Life's hard,
but I won't let it get to me

# Lot of drama,
but I can't let it stick to me... #

In San Quentin,
you run in these circles.

And you have to trick your mind

to believe that
you're somewhere else.

Four hours of running,
you can go stir crazy

if you're not thinking
about something other than running.

In my mind, I was just
focused on that

I was actually out somewhere
in society running.

I would block the walls out,
the gun towers,

and just go into a zone.

It felt that much closer
to freedom,

that much closer to being with
family or friends or just...

It just took everything away.

When I came to prison, I thought
about really just ending it all.

I mean, because there's no point.

I mean, I'm doing 50 years of life,

and I didn't see
a point being in prison.

I mean, I could have just...would
have just taken the easy way out

and just kill myself.

When I saw the reality of prison
and I saw everybody around me,

I mean, these guys can do it.

I was like, there must be a way
just to survive this.

# I never knew my strength
till I had nothing else... #

I do think about my crime a lot.

So in a sense, it's like...

..kind of penance.
You know, penance for my crime.

I, like... I kind of feel like,

OK, I caused so much suffering
and pain in my victim

and my victim's family
that, you know...

Some of that pain is, you know...

Excuse me.

But I deserve some suffering
as well, so.

That's part of it.

Excuse me.

They are there for a reason.

I don't get a lot of stories about,

like, "I shouldn't be here",
you know?

But it's more that, you know,
behind every person there,

there really is something.

And there is a story
and there is a circumstance

that brought them there,

but at the same time, you know,
they're just like you and me.

21 miles, Markelle. 21 miles!

Five and a quarter to go.

Come on, Markelle!

I've been with re-entry
for four years.

I've been with Markelle
for about a year now.

Markelle has been
to the board twice.

Both denied.

The most recent one this summer,
he was denied.

They gave him a three year denial.

So... Which is... Which is good.

You could get a seven year denial.

Um, there are a lot of variables
now that are playing out

in California, that he might
be called in early.

Did you guys watch Warriors
in here?

Oh, yeah. I'm glad they won.

Why should they let me out?

Because I've changed.
I'm a better person.

I'm not the same person
that committed that crime

17 years ago.

Given the opportunity, um...

..to be released, er...

I'll be responsible and accountable.

And I have people that I can

help hold me to being accountable
for my actions.

I know that
I can't drink ever again,

because if I drink, I will die.

If I don't end up back in prison.

And, er, I can't waste
17 years of sobriety.

You're going to the board on
October 12th, which is good news.

You gave me your relapse plan.

And I was able to type it
up for you.

You were mentioning earlier
that you got your psych report back.

This is a copy of it. Yeah.

So, there's a lot of information
that's covered here -

pretty much your whole life.

But essentially the most
important part is the last page,

where it's based on the analysis.

You are a low risk of reoffending

and a low risk of violence.

Yeah. So, that's as good as it gets.

Mm-hm. That's fabulous.

That's a great indicator.

So you're way ahead
of most other guys.

I got to be. OK.

I know one thing. I'm not going to
try to do things on my own no more.

I'm gonna use that support system.

That's one thing I can say.
We can't do it on our own.

I tried to do that on my own,
and it failed.

I failed tremendously.

A 15 and life sentence because
I tried doing everything on my own.

So, get help,

instead of holding it in.

Because if you hold it in,
that's when...

..you explode.

And sometimes when you explode,
if you don't kill yourself

or hurt yourself, you're
gonna hurt somebody else.

That's not good, so...

Of course, I still have
a little bit of fear.

Because a little bit of fear
keeps you in check.

It's like, balance you out.

But for the most part,
I have a new way to live.

Two laps to go!
Two laps to go!

25.75.

You got this, Markelle.

I know it hurts like hell.
Come on!

I had a stepfather
that was very abusive.

That was a nightmare in itself.

He used drugs, drank, cocaine.

Found out later on he had
a third grade education,

and my mom did everything for him.

26 miles!

One inside lap...

No, you got to go around - inside.

Being abused by my stepfather

growing up, since I was like
seven years old,

sleeping in closets,

whupped, being punched on.
And the drugs.

I done seen that.

Watching my mom get slapped around.

And I had a family
that liked to fight.

You know, they...beat each
other up all the time.

So, I mean, I've been around
violence all my life.

Yeah, Markelle!

Bring it on in, Markelle!

You can stop running
right around there.

Nice work.

You got it! First finisher!

CHEERING

All right, Steve, I got it.

Have a seat.

23.25.

Three left.

The champ!

14.75!

Keep going, Troy. You're good.

# There is a zone
that I'm tryin' to get in

# It's just for me, you can't fit in

# Look, you can see, you can listen

# But you get paid no attention

# I promise my mind I'm the vision
I promise my mind I'm the vision

# I promise my mind
I'm the vision... #

Lookin' good! Lookin' good!

Good job, Darren.

19.5! 19.5!

Great, Tommy!

Being a parent in prison,
and a husband,

that's harder than being
a gang member or a drug addict.

I would love to be out there
to help my mom and dad

but, more than likely, I won't be
there to help my mom and dad,

and I'll be lucky
if I get to help my wife.

And I'll be really lucky if I get
to be out there with my grandkids

because all my kids,
they're growing now.

I missed all that
because of my dumb choices.

That's pain, it's not anger.
I'm not mad at nothing any more.

And if I get a little irritated,
I'll go out and I'll run.

Tommy's running under
an eight minute pace,

was kind of his goal,

which, if he does that,
he'll be happy.

Right when we got there,
we got inside,

put everything where it needed to
be, and then he took his shirt off

and, like, I haven't seen him
without a shirt on,

only in pictures,
and it was kind of surprising,

so I was like, OK,
took my shirt off,

and then we kind of walked up to him
and just picked him up

and dropped him on the couch.
HE LAUGHS

And it was just... It was just cool.

I've never been able
to do that before.

He straight took the words
out of my mouth.

I didn't even bring it up and he
told me. He's like, "I'm sorry.

"I wish I was there to
teach you all these things."

He brought all that up before I did.

So it was very satisfying
just to know

that I'm not the only one
thinking about it.

He thinks about that on a daily,
he said,

and it was just really cool to
hear it from him, so I'm happy.

Very happy.

Have fun, OK?
You, too. Thanks for everything.

I'll see you soon. I love you, Mom.

Be good. You, too.
Stay out of trouble. I will.

Shoot, that's the wrong way
to do that.

Crap!

Come on, you know how to do this!

Marian and I were a team and
she's had her work cut out with me,

getting me back on track
as a good person, as a husband,

as a positive male role model,
period,

because I was messed up from the
life that I was living for so long.

I mean, 18 years old to, what, 35...

..I didn't care about too much.

SIREN

I went out drunk one night,
drinking with a couple of buddies,

and one thing led to another,

we drove through the store doors
because the store was closed.

They hit the doors, boom!

I was like, "What the heck?!",
and I booked.

I came back.
That's where I messed up.

As soon as I came back I was a part
of it, and I took all the Funyuns.

They gave me a commercial burglary
and forever my life was changed.

I worked for LA County and we
would teach the county inmates.

Rehab.

I never thought that he would be
one of the workers, or the inmate.

I just... Just never did.

But when he turned 18...

..he seen another life
and he went for it.

Because all his whole... His younger
life, he wanted to be a Sheriff.

1985, LA County Jail. I was
just a long-haired country boy.

I don't know if you guys
know how tight

country boys wear their clothes,
but it's pretty tight.

Well, in jail, in prison, you don't
want your clothes tight, erm, so...

There was this older Mexican guy
and he's like, "Hey, homes,

"you want to trade jumpsuits?" I was
like, "Heck yeah! Here you go, bro."

I squeeze in his jumpsuit thinking
I'm all country boy'd back, right?

I remember walking through the chow
line and everybody's looking at me

cos I had long hair,
my little wings on the side.

I mean, this is 1985. I'm just 18.

And I remember the guys
walking through the chow line,

they were the biggest dudes
I've ever seen in my life.

They had muscles on top of muscles.

And I remember when I got my tray,
this big old dude said,

"You're the finest thing that's
been through here in a long time."

I just looked at him,
like, "Whoa, dude."

He came out and he had this
"Peckerwood" on him.

He'd joined the Peckerwoods.

I says, "Tommy, you know
what you're doing?"

And he had a swastika on his calf.

He's still got it.

I says,
"You know what this stands for?"

He says, "They're good people, Dad."
I says, "No, they're not."

Well, about a week later,
him and his homies

are going down the boulevard,
and there's these three blacks,

they all jump out and start
beating up on these blacks,

and Tommy says, "What the hell
are you guys doing?!"

He gets out and helps the blacks.

He's naive. He didn't know what a
Peckerwood was and he joined them.

Don't be stupid, Tom.
I mean, he... He was...

He led a sheltered life
until he left here,

and then it was like...

A Mexican guy that I live with said,
"Tommy, you should cut your hair."

There's only one kind of haircut
you're going to get in a county jail

with a shaving razor,
and that's bald, so everybody

thought I was a skinhead,
so I was fighting everybody anyway.

Because of my fights and
my behaviour, they housed me

with some of the most dangerous
LA gang members there are

and I learned that gang mentality,
and I brought it up to my hometown

and I was involved with gangs
ever since.

Six months I was in jail,
I got out,

I got a job working for the Iron
Workers Union, section slate 509.

The next thing you know, they
asked me, "Hey, can you weld?"

So I did a couple beads for them
and they're like,

"We're sending you to school.
We're going to get you certified."

Well, there was a couple of guys
there that was doing speed

and I started doing speed, and
the next thing you know I quit

and said, "I'm going to make more
money making...or selling drugs"...

..and then I went to jail right
after that for strong-armed robbery.

Prison didn't make me
a better person.

It taught me everything that I
needed to be a criminal, an outlaw.

Your cousin Kenny's getting married
in three weeks.

Man, is that right? Yep.

Is he still with that same gal?
Yeah, same gal.

They've been together,
what, 17, 18 years.

Right. Yeah, that's a long time.
Yeah.

We won't go down that road.

Want to talk to your mom? Yeah.

OK.

Love you, love you, love you.
Love you, love you, love you.

Hi, hon.

Hello, Mom. How are you?

This call and your telephone number
will be monitored and recorded.

We know.
SHE LAUGHS

Well, the guy that
I ended up killing

was my homeboy Tim Carter,

the father of my stepson.

So, erm... Because he had
shot at me prior, too,

and it's like, man, this dude's
really trying to play for keeps,

and I told him, we made up.

And then that night, he was up there
in the house cooking drugs, and...

..I walked in and I was going to
take his drugs, that's all I wanted,

but when he pulled the gun on me and
he grazed the right side of my head

with the...with the...

..with the gun, and I took
the gun and now he's dead.

It was just a terrible night.

As soon as it happened,
I knew my life was done.

That's why I just told 'em,

"Get me anything without
a life sentence. I'm guilty."

And I've never been to a trial.

I've always took a deal. Five times
I took a deal because I'm guilty.

I mean, I'm not going to waste
the state's money

and sit in a county jail.

Just give me... Give me the deal.

They came back and said, "Plead
guilty to voluntary manslaughter."

OK, cool. That's 11 years.

No, but you're a three-striker,
so they strike that strike.

That 11 turns into 22.

Then you get five years for each
prior prison term. That's 15 more.

And ten for the gun
and ten for the gang.

So it's a total of 46 years
of enhancements on that charge.

All I had to do is just keep
going to work and going home,

but, no, I had to go over
to that house that night

to come up one more time.

I mean, did I really win
the fight that night?

Did I really win,
to grow old and die in prison?

I've been sober and gang-free
for 15 years now,

so I'm off to a good start.

My wife pushes me to believe
that I'm going to be out

before calendars.
That's her exact words.

So, hopefully, honey.
HE CHUCKLES

2053 is my EPRD -
earliest possible release date.

I'll be 86 years old, but if I
keep running I'll be all right.

You've got to stay positive.

21.5! 21.5!

You got it! You got it!

Tommy, way to go!

You got it! You got it!

Have some water, Eddie.
Thank you. Good job.

Six-twelve.

I've got you, Al.

One more lap.
Look, he's picking it up.

Nice!

You look good, man.
New York! New York!

Selling drugs, for me, came late in
the game. Like, when I was 25, 26.

I just felt angry. Like, doing
everything right and being picked on

or being a victim to the world.
I feel like, just put my foot down.

And, for me, putting
my foot down meant...

..this righteous anger
that was unproductive,

and I started feeling like I wasn't
going to make it in society

in another way
because I didn't see hope.

In the year 2000,
here in California,

I took part in what was a drug deal.

The guys, they didn't bring money,
they brought guns.

And I shouldn't have been there,
I shouldn't have had a gun,

I should have said,
"You can just have the bag",

but, when they said, "Robbery!",
I lost it and I reacted in violence.

I killed one man,
I put another man in critical.

This happened in broad daylight
in a parking lot, so I endangered

anybody that could have been
walking by at the time

because I couldn't let it go,
I couldn't let them

take something from me -
my ego, my pride,

so I'm here
because I'm convicted of murder.

An older guy that I was in
Calipatria with named Samir,

he saw my anger and he said,
"Youngster, there's nobody

"you can beat up that's going
to get you out of prison.

"In fact, that's going to
make it worse."

And so when I started thinking
about that, I realised,

"Damn, I'm throwing my life away
over anger."

When I had this revelation,
it was in Calipatria.

a level four prison, there were
no groups, there were no therapy.

All they had was Jesus,
Muhammad and Buddha.

So I started going to all the
religious services, just trying

to find a direction, and 55 to
life back then, the Governor,

life meant life - there wasn't
all this mass incarceration hope

we have now.
It meant you was never going home.

So I started being good not for
a Parole Board or to go home,

but maybe to make it to heaven.
And still I don't want to

make the system think
they were right about me.

I want to show that I was a better
person than you thought I was

and I want to show my mother
I'm a better son

and you didn't waste your time.

All his life, pretty much,
he worked a job.

He was a working guy,
went to school, a regular person.

Hey, G, I need a copy
of Message To My Younger Self.

You need a copy of it? Yeah.
All right. All right? That's good?

I think just the problem-solving
techniques he used was wrong

and I think that he knows that but
he's never going to get a chance...

..to be free...

..to really redo his story,

so now he's trying to live
his story in prison.

And then you go...

..but people just still see
that he's in prison.

Very good to see you, man.

What?! See? What?! See?
What's up, man?

San Quentin is the only prison
that has a Society

of Professional Journalists
chapter in it at all,

and today we're going to show off
some projects that we made,

basically cross training.

Like, for instance, I'm a writer

and today you're going to see
two videos I produced.

Other guys that are audio
journalists are now doing videos,

some of them are doing writing,
and we did art installations.

We didn't know what that was
a year ago, right?

If I had a chance to talk
to my young self,

I would tell my young self that
Big Daddy Kane is not your daddy

and what he's teaching you is how
to get the respect of a loser.

The way you get power is not
from something outside yourself,

it's something that God
already gave you,

and that's what I would tell
my young self.

15 to life is for
second degree murder,

five-and-a-half years is for
attempted voluntary manslaughter

for the guy that survived,

additional 25 to life
for the use of a gun

and another ten years
for the use of a gun

that great bodily injury
on the other guy.

So it's 20 years for the crime

and 35 years extra
in gun enhancements.

I think he's going to finish.

I think we might be here until
the afternoon, but that's fine.

We've got all day.

If you're running a marathon
or if you've got a life sentence,

it's too overwhelming to think about
how much farther you've got to go.

You just do one step at a time, one
day at a time, one hour at a time,

and just try to be productive
every single day.

Hey, this is 15 miles.

Hang in there.

Over the years, I've become
a little bit more attuned

into our current prison system,

and I'm frankly pretty appalled

when I read that, erm...

..the United States has 5%
of the world's population

and 25% of the prison population.

And I think there are a lot of guys

in prison that really...

..don't belong there.

Well done, Rahsaan!

131, now! We're on 131!

The last six miles of a marathon
are super intense experiences,

so when you share that experience
with a bunch of people,

it leaves its mark

and it changes who you are.

Walk right back in the lane.
Everybody going through.

Let's go, fellas.
It's going to be a long day.

What's up? Yes, sir.
How you doing? We're getting 40...

I'll be back, man. All right.

They're coming down right now.
Don't let 'em get down in my line.

I'll be right back.

Hey. Welcome, everybody.
I'm glad you could make it

to the American Sign Language class
here in San Quentin.

In order to talk to my brother
I had to know sign language,

so I grew up with sign language,
so I wrote a proposal up

and sent it to the AW, and
they were like, "No way, dude,

"you're not teaching sign language

"in a level four
maximum security prison.

"That's how you guys communicate
in the hall."

The next weekend,
with my brother on a visit,

they see me talking to him
in sign language,

they're like,
"Send that proposal back

"and we're going
to get this approved."

Five years later, 16 guys on
the yard learned sign language,

from all backgrounds.
This is a very diverse group.

As you can see, I like diversity.

And not only can we learn sign
language to work with at risk youth,

the deaf children
or the deaf community,

if you learn this
and you get certified,

that's $75 to $100 an hour
just as a translator.

You apply yourself
and get this under your belt,

you'll be ready to be certified
as soon as you get out of here.

Football.
You've got to remember all that.

And then tennis. It's basically
the movement of the sport, so...

Running.

And then one, two, three. Runner.
And then personalise it.

Runner. I am a runner. OK.

I... I... Am... Am... A...

ALL: A...

Runner. ALL: Runner.

All right, Tommy, this is where
all that work pays off.

One inside lap! All right, Larry.
One inside lap!

That was a good lap, Larry.
Nice work.

Second place, Eddie Herena.

03:37:20.

Third place, Chris Scull.

03:42:25.

Super proud of you.
Give it to me, man.

Fourth place, Vincente Gomez.

03:42:41.

Fifth place, Tommy Wickerd.

03:46:16.

Sixth place, Jonathan Chiu.

One second behind.

03:46:17.

When you're around a runner, the
last thing you're going to do is,

"I want to go mess this up"

or, "I want to put something foul
in my body."

There's none of that.
It's all positive stuff.

OK, here comes Sergio,
seventh place finisher.

Running in San Quentin
really saved me.

Big dog, we did it, dog!

It just changed my life forever.

Woo!

That was a nice finish
from you and Chiu.

That was a great move.

It's a good day, dog.
It's a good day.

Eighth place, Steve Brooks.
Yes, Steve!

Four hours and 12 seconds.

Ninth place, Jon Levin.

04:03:06.

Tenth place, Larry Ford.

04:06:25.

Larry becomes our first
fifth-time finisher.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing us
to be in this day, in this race,

and enjoy this beautiful day
that you give to us to run

and the strength that you give
to us. Thank you, Lord.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Yes, thank you.

Woo!

Let's go, Al! Come on, Al!
Right now.

This is the 11th place,

Al Yaseng.

Tommy, you were... You were
the most focused one out there.

You were, like, game face. Right.
Not, like, smiling. It's good.

OK, number 12 finisher, Lee Goins.

Timbuktu. Timbuk!

All right, good job.

Nice job.

You can stop!
That's it! You're done!

Lee, you're done!

Yeah!

Man.

Told y'all I'm from New Orleans.
Woo...

Good job. I don't know
what happened to this.

Good job, good job. All right.

Well, we've had 12
marathon finishers so far.

Now I just want Rahsaan to finish.

HE LAUGHS

So, my training sucked.

Erm, it started off great.

I was doing... I was doing this,
I was determined,

and then we had that
three-week lockdown,

and then there was the
smoke inhalation from Napa.

The poor air quality days.

And then there's my own cold.

So my training...
My training fell off.

But even at best, I only run,
maybe... At best I run twice a week.

At best.

Erm, and maybe that's not enough
to do the Markelle,

so I have to work on that.

But it's just so hard.
I'm in college, I work,

I just finished Guiding Rage Into
Power, which is a self-help group.

I just do so much. I'm in creative
writing, the policy workshop.

I got so much going on. And then
there's only limited times

you can shower, so it's just
hard to navigate all that.

Two miles to go. Just keep it up.

No-one said it was going to be easy.

You're doing great.
Just hang in there.

I applied to Governor
for commutation of my sentence,

and what that would do,
if the Governor is so inclined,

it would give me a time cut.

So, right now, about 55
to life sentence,

and he can reduce that
as much as he wants.

When I got here, I got into
a restorative justice group.

Hearing victims, you realise what
you did to that person's family,

you realise what you did
to them people.

You realise the ramifications -

how many people care about
somebody else. The ripple effect.

And when you see the impact,
it just changes it,

because until then, violence
almost feels cartoonish.

Because you might fire some shots
and then you run

and you never see what you did.

You never see the victims at the
funeral, you never see the ambulance

pumping and doing all the stuff
that they need to do

and you are able to ignore it
in your mind.

But when you face the victims
and look at those tears

and know what you did and know that
you did it to your family, too.

You know, on the one hand,
at a place like San Quentin,

getting up close and personal
like we have over all this time,

like, you see the success of it.

It's like, OK, you know what?
These guys are reformed.

Like, they're ready to go out
into society.

Like, I would feel comfortable

having people here
in my living room.

So that is a case of, like,
successful rehabilitation.

But most of these guys,
or a lot of them,

will never get out or won't get out
until they're 80 or 90 years old.

So, then, what's the point of that?

What's the benefit to the society
of holding people in prison?

When I take a step back and I think
of why every ghetto in America

has these same elements,
what's going on?

And I think it's just something way
bigger than individual free will

or individual choices.
I think that the invisible walls,

the frustration from all the
invisible walls blocking you in.

Somebody's beating you up and
you can't see who's doing it.

They're doing it from way up
in the penthouse

or the White House or whatever,

and I think that it makes
people act some kind of way.

Now that I've let go of that anger,
good opportunities come to me.

When you're angry all the time, you
create... You attract negativity.

People feed off that.
It just brings rain clouds.

But when you're happy, man,
even when something bad happens,

you find a silver lining
and you're still smiling.

I'm supposed to be miserable.

You're entering the final lap here!

I'm supposed to be a failure.

I'm supposed to give up.
I'm supposed to die in here.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Go! Go! Go!

06:12:23.
Welcome to the alumni, son!

You're a marathon runner!

I got the record, coach.
The longest time.

06:12:23. Is that the longest time?
That's the longest time.

Woo! For all the people that
come in last, I did this for us!

He also set a record.
13th finisher, and that's a record.

That's a record? First-ever.
We've never had more than 12 before.

Woo! 13th finisher!

Great job. Great job, Rahsaan.

This is for my mom,
who didn't think I was an athlete.

For everybody who was in a baseball
club but never got to play.

For everybody who went out
to play basketball

and they told you you had next
and you're still waiting.

LAUGHTER

For everybody...
LAUGHTER

..that understands that he who is
last shall be first sooner or later,

just not today.

Woo! Good job. Yeah!
APPLAUSE

Nice work. Thank you.

I want to thank all my coaches...
Amen.

..who got me through
the last five miles

when I was getting ready to quit.
We had our doubts, but you did it.

What was the spread?
Man, I got paid, son!

HE LAUGHS

And it's not even count time yet.
What time is it?

It's only 2:41pm. We did it.

Woo-wee.

Now I've got to go upstairs.
Up all them stairs.

Who's going to get me
up them stairs?

I didn't think about the stairs.

Oh, my God,
I live on the fifth tier.

I got a lot of that
out of the way, though.

It's going to be tough.

That was great. Come here.

Tommy, you good up there?

Congratulations.

Thanks for counting for me. Hey.

Thanks for being there with
the water and the nutrients. Yeah.

You happy? Erm, yeah.
All right. Still alive, so happy.

All right. So I'm happy. I'm still
in prison, so not that happy.

That was fun. Great day.
Hey, awesome.

We'll take a month off in December
and do it all again next year.

All right, y'all, we love y'all.
See you. Bye.

Kind of picked it up there
towards the end.

Tommy ran great.

Yeah. Tommy was just hoping
to break...

I know, 3:46.

And you know what?
Darren ran really well, considering.

And his buddy, Vince,
I was surprised he hit 21 miles.

Yeah, that was good, Frank.

Great day.

I was really hoping to break
my record or clear three.

I was thinking, OK,
if that goal is not reachable,

at least maybe I can get
in between my best time

and my second best time.

And I was able to do that and I'm
glad I was able to do that, so...

I'll be buckled down on starting
to get ready for the Board again.

What they wanted last time,
more insight or...

..more time, I'm going to
give them all of that

because I do want to run
with the coach when I get out.

TANNOY: It's lock up. Off your
phones, out of the shower...

THUNDER

Is that him?

You guys, that might be him.

INDISTINCT QUIP

LAUGHTER

Markelle, get out here.
CHEERING

Nice hat! Nice hat!

CHEERING
Man!

How are you all doing? Man,
we've got to get you a better hat.

I love your headgear, man.
This is my 1000 Mile Club hat.

OK. Nice.
Did you get any sleep last night?

No. No!
LAUGHTER

Man. You made it.

Yeah.

Man.

I'm just happy to be out.
Happy to be free.

Overwhelmed.

I'm really feeling overwhelmed.

And I'm anxious to just get this all
behind me, you know what I mean?

Just to be able to start
my new life.

Why don't you try a Tuscany?

A Tuscany? What number is that?
I mean...

Right under. Oh, OK.
The chicken breast with mushroom...

Almond... OK.

You want potatoes or fries?
French fries.

Fries. Got it. Any drink?

Fresh orange juice, fresh
cranberry juice... Orange juice.

OK.

Do I look like
I just got out of prison?

No. OK, good.

I'm still just trying to learn
how to be free.

See, I want to be able to learn
how to cook like this.

All in time, my friend.

Re-acclimating myself
back into society,

starting over,
living life as a civilian.

just taking it day by day,
hour by hour,

so I can take it all in.

I think if I just came in
and just ran on my own,

I would have never envisioned
or even dreamed

of ever trying to run
in the Boston Marathon.

One minute!

I'm proud of Markelle
and I'm really happy for him.

I know when I got serious
about my distance running,

my goal was to qualify for Boston.

It'll be a big deal for Markelle

and it'll be a big deal
for all the guys in the club.

I've never been on the East Coast,
so the ride on the plane,

everything is going to be
a brand-new experience for me

and I'm just going to enjoy
the moment.

All right, good luck to you.

Here's a card from the guys
at 1000 Mile Club.

Ooh, this is different.

Are you all right there? Yeah.

Everything is different here, man.
I'm normally just walking.

My personal best is 3:10.

What I'm trying to do
in Boston is...

..break three hours.

Look what I got from Frank
right before getting on the plane.

Tommy wrote me some letters.

"It's been an honour to spend
three-and-a-half years of my life

"with the fastest man
in San Quentin.

"I am so proud of my true brother.

"All of the hurdles he overcame
and all of the hard work

"he put into becoming
a member of free society.

"While he still has time
to be an inspiration

"and prove to all of our
1000 Mile Club coaches

"that all of their time
and hard work was not in vain.

"Markelle 'The Gazelle' Taylor
is free

"and about to run
the Boston Marathon."

STARTING GUN

TANNOY: The 123rd running of
the Boston Marathon is under way.

"I love and miss you, brother.

"26.2 to life."

I know that there's a lot of guys
that worked just as hard as I did

and wasn't given the opportunity.

But I know it's coming,
I know their time is coming,

I really believe that.

You know, they told me that they
couldn't wait for me to get out.

They said, "Man, get out, because
we know that we're following

"right behind", so whenever
there's a lifer getting out,

it gives another guy
that's a lifer hope.

So I'm hope for those guys
that are left behind.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Let's give it up for Ty again.
Come on, Ty. Good job, man.

Well, December, I'll start my 18th
year sober and no gang activity.

CHEERING

I lost my Pa in March and
my Uncle Bill a year before that,

and the last time they walked
out of this visiting room,

they told me, "You're the son and
nephew that we raised you to be."

I could talk to the youngsters
about how bad gangs and drugs were,

but I couldn't tell them
how important education was

when I didn't have it myself.

I can now.

CHEERING

LAUGHTER

# Mentally constipated

# BLEEP on my mind
but can't come out

# Surrounded by cats,
some real, some fake

# I observe the way
they make a mouse

# Who really ain't got a clue, man
Thinking dude cool, man

# Kickin' it like Luke can
till you see a few things

# You see on two lanes,
like they go to 2 Chainz

# Now it's time to change
who part of your crew, man... #

You are now tuned in
to San Quentin's Ear Hustle

from PRX's Radiotopia.
I am Rahsaan 'New York' Thomas,

a resident of San Quentin
State Prison

serving a life sentence
for second degree murder.

# I know I am so far from perfect

# But I know I can speak
for more than one person

# When I say I am sorry... #

I just feel like I am
my brother's keeper.

That, erm, if he needs help,
I'm going to try to help him.

And I feel like these guys
over there,

they need help...

..and they appreciate
whatever help they get.

# Things like that,
and thinking dumb

# And the scene of guns
and drugs in the slums

# From where you from
to where I'm from

# It's all the same thing
just in different ways

# It's all the same pain
just in a different place

# Same conclusion,
just a different pace

# So I'm trying to break the mould

# I'm trying to take control
of the mind of the masses

# I won't stop till the deaf
can hear me loud and clearly

# And the blind see it happen

# And that's deeper than rap
and I speak out of passion... #

I think before I worked on myself
in the self-help groups

and the running
and all the support that I have,

and me feeling a lot better about
myself than I did in my past...

..I'm not going to
say I'm 100% cured.

I'm still a work in progress.

# I know I am so far from perfect

# But I know I can speak
for more than one person

# When I say I am
so tired of hurting

# We can change the world forever
if we come together

# We can break the mould

# Product of my environment,
at least that's what we was told

# You don't plan for retirement

# When you're programmed
to blow grass and sell dope

# Till the day that you gone

# Bride sweat so cold
when you got to call home

# A place where you grow sick
A hope was a joke, man

# Everybody broke,
thinking that's how it go

# For somebody like me, just another
young brother from the streets

# You got to see the beauty in
the beast cos the weak can't eat

# But we can't leave

# How can we stay free
when they lock us in prison?

# When we've been imprisoned
in blocks

# With no equal opportunity
come for jobs

# Protection will come from a Glock,
when will it stop?

# Some will say never, but you never
know till we make that endeavour

# No lie, ties to the lies
must be severed

# So I try to get a world
of perception

# So fly that you fly away
to a higher place

# When you was told
you couldn't reach it

# Open your eyes today if you alive
today, we could break the mould... #

Another one!
CHEERING

What the...?

Oh, my God.

Yeah! Yeah!

# Hey, look

# Now I'm in the same prison
as my grandfather

# They say they have no heart,
then why we still trying?

# I got tired of days
of seeing my mother crying

# I realised I was living fast,
I was slowly dying

# Take a look at my past,
no, I ain't lying

# Grandfather was in prison
for selling dope

# While my mother pregnant with me,
tell her where's the hope

# And she was only 13 at the time

# Who knew that baby in the stomach
live a life of crime?

# Now I'm in the same prison
as my grandfather

# Just like him, I can't be there
for my own daughter

# But now he out and he's there... #