Nobody else is around, and they feel safe in his presence. He has already determined how far they can sprint before coming to exhaustion, and—this is the clever part—Johnsgard marks off that distance from the main door of the mall, and then has them sprint from his side toward the mall. The idea is that they reach the height of their fear in a state of full physical arousal, without the panic. If they feel a panic attack coming on, they are instructed to stop, turn, and walk back to him. They run toward fear and walk toward safety.
