Thanks to 'Local Hero,' Kenwood Runners Will Compete in Style

Kenwood High School senior Alexis Bell has been named a "Local Hero" by athletic shoe company New Balance.

She received the honor for her "extensive" volunteer work at school and in the community, according to a statement from Kenwood Good News Ambassador Joyce Gray.

"I feel like it's a priceless award for me," Bell said in a statement from Baltimore County Public Schools spokesman Charles Herndon. "Kenwood is a great school and I'm really proud of Kenwood and the people here, and I feel like this is a big step for all of us."

The Local Heroes campaign was created through a partnership of New Balance, MileSplit and Flo Track to "recognize local high school distance runners who are making a real difference in the world around them," according to the MileSplit website.

Bell is one of five national winners who were gleaned from regional contests in New England, the Baltimore/District of Columbia and Chicago metro areas, Florida and Northern California.

A party in Bell's will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 6, at Charm City Run in Lutherville. The athlete and student leader and her cross country teammates will all receive new running shoes from New Balance.

Kenwood cross country coach Mark Planamente nominated Bell for the award. In addition to her her participation in school sports, Bell is the senior class president, participates in the school's holiday food drives and Adopt-a-Family program. Outside of school, she volunteers at HCR Manor Care, where her mother, Barbara Bell, works.

Bell has been an active community volunteer since her days as a Deep Creek Elementary School student, when she helped to support a local animal shelter, according to Herndon.

After graduating from Kenwood, Bell plans to attend college and study medicine, perhaps with the end goal of becoming a pediatric neurologist, Herndon wrote in his statement.

Bell credits her sister Allison with inspiring her to think of others first. Allison, 15, is a Kenwood special needs student who told her sister last year that she'd like to get in shape.

Alexis Bell, knowing it would mean teaching her physically challenged sister how to run, suggested that Allison try out for the cross country team.

"So we set out on the journey, and even though it was an everyday struggle because of how her legs were built, I had to teach her how to run without hurting herself," Alexis said in an interview with MileSplit. "It started out pretty rough. I saw her face when she ran for the first time, the look of disappointment because it was hard. I knew that face; I’d been there, too. 

"But just seeing that she had faith in running herself made me believe in her more," Alexis added. "Every day I would tell her, 'I know it’s hard—trust me. I am right here running with you. Just keep breathing, one step at a time.' "