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Palo Alto Online

Getting in shape

by Keith Peters

He's been leading those warmup drills for the annual Moonlight Run for the past five years. When Andre J. Bobo is finally finished shouting instructions over some very energetic music, hundreds of bodies are ready to run.

If there was nothing else to this volunteer job, it would be just fine with Bobo. After all, his life is whipping people into shape and putting smiles on faces.

"I like being out there because of the excitement of the event," said Bobo, one of the more popular fitness instructors in the area. "The energy that the peole get right before they starting running is amazing."

While that could be payment enough, Bobo will receive an extra bonus this Friday when the 17th annual Weekly Moonlight Run is held at Baylands Athletic Center. A 5K (3.1 miles) walk gets things under way at 7:30 p.m., followed by a 5K run at 8:30 p.m. and a 10K (6.2 miles) run at 8:40 p.m.

Bobo has a client who will be running in this event for the first time. In fact, this will be her very first race.

"She's 48 and never exercised before in her life," Bobo said. "A year ago, she couldn't run a lap around a baseball field. She just couldn't do it. Now, she can run four miles. She can't wait to run it."

Bobo has many other success stories that bring a big smile to his expressive face. A year ago he had a female client who lost 45 pounds after a steady diet of workouts. There was the lady who couldn't do one single pullup, but can do 12-13 today. And then there's the 60-year woman "who's my inspiration," Bobo said. "She's just a very strong and fit lady. To look at her, you'd think she's 45."

Yes, fitness can do wonders. Forget the diet pills, starvation diets and crazy fads. They may help in weight loss, but nothing beats physical activity. That's why Bobo teaches hip hop dance at La Entrada and Woodside Elementary schools. That's why he has been teaching classes at Reach in Palo Alto for nine years. And that's why he teaches a survival course (and Hip Hop) at Stanford University. Professor Bobo, I presume?

For 17 years, Bobo has been in the fitness business as a professional. Yet, fitness has been a part of his life for much longer than that.

As a high school student in St. Louis, Mo., Bobo was a member of the cross-country team. Every day the squad ran from the school to a park at the top of a hill and returned.

"That was such a great feeling," he said of the seven-mile jaunt. "To be able to accomplish that . . . Everyone should be able to run a mile. Running is probably one of the more freeing things. To be able to move your body. That brings back youth, when you were 15 and invincible."

Bobo later accepted a wrestling scholarship to Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., where he worked for the school newspaper, had a minor in theater and received a BA in communications.

Bobo has put those communication tools to good use. After experiencing his own personal life change through a fitness class, Bobo was encouraged by his fitness trainer to pursue instructor certification.

"People liked what I did," he remembered. "People encouraged me."

And now he's encouraging others after taking classes in step aerobics, jazz dance, funk, hip hop, low impact and boxing. Bobo taught "Boxercise" before Billy Blanks made Tae Bo famous.

"Billy Blanks had a great agent," Bobo noted.

Andre J. Bobo doesn't need an agent. Fame isn't on his list of things to do. He has a new wife of one year. He has a great job that allows him to be inside or out, pursue a healthy lifestyle and help others do the same.

"It changes their outlook on life and the way they feel about themselves," Bobo said of proper fitness training. "It promotes clarity. It makes them positive about their purpose in life."

That's why he'll be out at Baylands Athletic Center on Friday night leading the warmups for a sixth straight year. So, come ready to some hip-hop style stretching and have some fun before you run. Exercise is where it's at and where you'll find Andre J. Bobo. Like at the 17th annual Weekly Moonlight Run.