New Jerusalem had a rough month with the wintery weather, but we kept pushing through! We unfortunately had to cancel several training runs due to weather but we are still gearing up and looking forward to the Frostbite 5 miler and Caesar Rodney race in March! We have everyone running at least 4 blocks each morning which is a huge accomplishment! Watch out, NJN is going to start taking over in races!

We welcomed Dave back into running. Our women’s house has been kicking butt with attendance and starting to work towards running! Mitchell hit 50 miles and Malik got 100 miles. All of our new members from last month, Charlena, Nicole, Audrey, and Talib all hit 5 and 10 miles and are only a few miles away from 25! On the non-res end, Kristen started running with us again after having a foot injury. We also welcome new volunteers Bill, Jon, Rebecca, and the Villanova BOMF running club.

Our resident of the month is Nikki. She has been doing a tremendous job with attendance and working towards some running. Our non resident of the month is Doreen. She has been amazing traveling in from the suburbs for every run and organized our aquarium social! She says, “Back On My Feet starts my day off right. What’s better than laughter, hugs and running in the morning?” Thanks guys!

Come out and run with us on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:40AM at 20^th and Norris!

Roy kicking some asphalt in last June's Jim Kane Sugar Bowl

Roy Santillan is often described as Back on My Feet Boston’s quiet, gentle giant.  He has been one of Team St. Francis House‘s most consistent attendees since the launch of Back on My Feet in Boston. Roy might not say much and he never seeks the spotlight, but — no matter what — he’s always there to welcome you with a bright smile and a warm hug. He is a smart man, a deep thinker, and an avid reader. And to top it off, Roy loves to cook! He was more than happy to volunteer to be one of the hosts for the St. Francis Christmas Party.

Roy came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was a teenager.  He finished high school in Chicago and took some college courses, but soon family requirements forced him to drop out of school and work to help support his family.  Roy has a son and a daughter back in Chicago who he misses dearly.

Roy has the unique honor of having run the most amount of miles of any Resident member in Boston.  He has participated every Back on My Feet race, and ran his first half marathon at the 2010 Chilly Half Marathon in November! Next up on Roy’s race plate: The Providence Half Marathon. Roy has ambitions for a full marathon, but has decided to keep his main focus on his current course load. Because besides all the running, Roy is also taking classes for his Bachelor’s Degree at UMass Boston. He hopes to earn a degree in Sociology or Psychology.

“All the guys are special to me in their own way, but Roy touches me in a way some of the others don’t,” says Lauri McBurney, St. Francis House Team Leader. “I truly believe he has the ability to go far — he needs to figure out how to harness that potential.”

Roy and some other St. Francis teammates getting ready to take on the Chilly Half Marathon

2011 started off strong with veteran members taking on a Saturday morning long run on the first day of the year. As Chicago plunges into a harsh winter we are still adding members to our team! It’s hard to keep this group down, even with ice and snow they are tackling mile after mile; many have received 50 mile medals and some have even passed the 100 mile mark! Aside from running there are other exciting happenings at Lawson House to report. In early January Rosetta moved into a new apartment yet is still close enough to join us on our early mornings! Keith, who had been interviewing through much of January, landed a full-time job with US Express Trucking! From running to moving to getting back in the workforce, our team has started 2011 off strong with no signs of slowing down! We’ll continue through the snow but look forward to what the warmer months will bring! Read more…

Happy New Year from Team MCVET!  This month has ushered in what is sure to be another exciting and momentous year for our team.  We kicked off the year on the right foot by hosting all of Back On My Feet for a New Year’s Day run and have continued full speed ahead ever since. Notably absent from that New Year’s Day run though were teammates Erin H. and Devon M., who were both busy getting married that very same holiday weekend. Congratulations and best wishes to both of them and their new spouses.

The next weekend saw the team brave the snowy conditions and take on the appropriately named Frozen Finger Five Miler, turning in some impressive individual and team performances.  Special thanks to MCVET Alum Wayne T. as well as non-res members Jeff F. and Rocco F. for coming out to cheer on their fellow teammates.

This month, we also welcomed Mark D. to the team.  With only a few weeks of running with the team under his belt, Mark is already eyeing the Valentine’s Day 5k in February and has made significant contributions to the team in other ways, lending his advice to help improve the team bulletin board.  In addition to welcoming new members, this month we also welcome back some familiar faces in Laurin W., back from a semester studying abroad in Barcelona and John H., who returned from his deployment with the Navy in the Mid East.

Jeff W. and John T. also made big news this month without their running shoes by earning their CDL’s.  Now that we’ve got professionally certified big rig and bus drivers on the roster, we’re only waiting on that Team MCVET Tractor Trailer and Tour Bus to come through to transport us to races and social events.  2012 perhaps?

As we’re thrilled with the additions and re-additions of both new faces to our circle in the mornings, we’re also losing one of our most beloved members in Sally F., who announced that she will be moving to Vermont to pursue a new career opportunity.  Sally has been a truly unbelievable teammate, and while we’re all sad to see her go, we wish her the best and look forward to catching up with her for the occasional Saturday long run when she’s back in town.

Team MCVET, January 2011

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What a weekend! Dallas, and Texas, is buzzing with the news of the Back on My Feet launch and we are excited to offer up this brief but all encompassing recap of events that led to our first chapter in the Lone Star State.

Run On!, the Dallas chapter’s running store partner, hosted a shoe fitting on Saturday morning for 30 of our residential members and offered up beanies, t-shirts, shoes and socks. Needless to say, the store was packed with members from all over Dallas and included some of our very good friends from New Balance. Run On! was extremely accommodating and had seven employees come in to help with the fitting . The local Einstein’s also donated breakfast for everyone. The shoe fitting was an excellent example of how multiple companies in Dallas gave what they could and produced an outstanding and far-reaching event! You can see more photos from the shoe fitting here. Our residential members were literally dancing in the aisles of the store. Thank you Run On!, New Balance and Einstein’s!

Of course all of the energy from the morning shoe fitting carried over to the actual launch run on Monday morning. Yes, it was Valentine ’s Day, but many of our members were preoccupied with what some have confirmed as one of the most important moments of their lives. The Monday morning run began with 100+ members at the Main Street Garden Park in downtown Dallas at 5:45 a.m. led by Wylie Belasik, VP of Programming and cowboy hat enthusiast, the run started with television cameras from channels 4, 5, 11 and 33. Look to this blog for some of the exciting media coverage in the future!

After the one mile run, ACE Cash Express executives were excited to hand over a check in the amount of $18,000 to Anne and the rest of the Back on My Feet Dallas team.  We could not have pulled off the launch without the extensive help of our sponsors. They are incredibly supportive and have been our biggest advocates. Thank you ACE, Accenture, Marriott and Holt Lunsford Commercial!

Registration for breakfast began promptly at 8 a.m. at the Marriott City Center in Dallas. The Marriott team worked with the Dallas team almost every day for the month leading up to the event and the work paid off as guests were treated to 600+ gift bags, t-shirts, water bottles and a hot breakfast.

The program featured Terri Dolan of Marriott, Jay Shipowitz of ACE Cash Express, Mike Rawlings, a Dallas mayoral candidate, Kevin Pollari of Accenture, Anne Mahlum and Charlie Tiller, a Baltimore alumni member. The entire audience was mesmerized by Charlie’s story and gave him a standing ovation at the end of his speech.

As they say, everything is bigger in Texas, and this launch did not disappoint. The people of Dallas are excited and eagerly connecting with the Back on My Feet team to learn more and get involved. Look here for more great news from Texas!

THUMB continued our exciting growth in January as we added three more residential members to our dedicated team: Eric B., Jaime W., and Reggie H.  All three guys came out ready to run and have fit right in with the team.  Eric and Reggie achieved their 5 mile incentives, while Jaime achieved his 5 and 10 mile incentives. Other incentives for January include:  Michael B. received his awards for running 5 miles straight (he actually ran 8 miles!) and 25 total miles, Willie G. reached 10 and 25 miles and Chris C. and Zach R reached 100 miles with the team!  Congrats to our res runners for reaching these milestones!!

The team started the year by running the New Year’s Resolution Run 5K at Patterson Park on January 1^st where Barry B. ran 28:53, Chris C. ran 23:38 (PR), Donnell M. ran 25:57 (PR), and Mike H. ran 21:03.  We also enjoyed running the Frozen Finger 5 miler on January 8^th (which actually turned out to be 5.4 miles) where Barry B. ran 52:49, Chris C. ran 44:53 and John L. ran 44:59!  And, even though he was injured and unable to run, thanks to Andrew F. for coming out to support his teammates!

We are very excited that two of our team members, Mike H. and Zach R., celebrated 1 year of sobriety this month.  Their hard work and focus inspires us all.  Also, congratulations to Mike H. who graduated from HUM in January!

There was a surprise lunch held for Barry B. to celebrate his 2 year sobriety on January 9^th.  This event was attended by about two dozen team members to honor Barry.  He is such an inspiration to us all.  On January 17^th, about 20 THUMB team members, family, and friends served dinner at the Helping Up Mission.  It was a great evening of camaraderie and friendship as team members had a chance to show off their giving spirit.  Several team members got to take part in Monte Sanders’ (personal trainer who works out with some of the Baltimore Ravens) boot camp on January 24^th.   They were put through a tough workout including running sprints, ladder drills, ab work and more!

On January 19^th, the second edition of Orientation 2.0 took place at the Helping Up Mission.  Through this discussion, the goal is to further educate our members, partners & constituents on how to approach and cope with the issues of addiction, substance abuse & recovery. It is geared towards providing the support and community that many of our members need in their ongoing battle with addiction.

Training for the Delaware Marathon has begun while training for the 2^nd Annual Back on My Feet Nikia Nippy Nor’easter Half-Marathon and Relay is well underway and we have many team members who will be running one or both of these races.  For some, this will be their first race of this distance and the next few months will be filled with exciting firsts and the chance to look within and find something special…stay tuned!

A snowy January run for team THUMB

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Since starting with Back on My Feet last May, Oba, a member of the team at Ready, Willing & Able, has run almost 200 miles and maintained 93% attendance. When he joined BOMF, he didn’t realize what he was getting himself into. Oba had come to Ready, Willing & Able after making some bad decisions and irresponsible behavior, which he attributed to being headstrong and immature. He believes in second chances and running with the opportunity when you get one; that’s exactly what he’s done since moving to Ready, Willing & Able and joining BOMF!

Initially, Oba joined BOMF because he wanted to stay in shape and add routine and discipline to his life through the morning runs. What he got with BOMF was so much more. Through the program he’s been able to meet many new, different and wonderful people. They’ve shared experiences and gotten to know one another at the morning runs and social events. He has gained confidence and a belief in himself and his capabilities. Oba believes that he can do anything he sets his mind to and his recent accomplishments attest to it. Read more…

January’s frigid temps, ice, and snow did not stop the St. Leonard’s team from reaching new milestones this month.  We finished the month off big with residential members Michael, Mingo, Elton, Ramiro, and Keith all completing their first half-marathon on January 29th! Non-residential members David, Catherine, Tia, Doug, Kate, Gavin, and Sandra also participated in the half-marathon. Thank you to Eunice and Elizabeth who assisted with transportation and cheering us on.  Read more…

BOMF DC had a great night at the Verizon Center on Friday February 4th 2011.

The Washington Wizards featured the Back on My Feet D.C. chapter as the community spotlight partner for the evening as the Wizards faced the Orlando Magic. Back on My Feet sold tickets to supporters, friends, and the D.C. community with a portion of each ticket going to benefit Back on My Feet.

The game marked the return of former Wizard Gilbert Arenas, as his new team, the Orlando Magic, took on the Wizards. The Verizon Center was near capacity and ready for a great game. The Wizards kept it a close game throughout, until the Magic began to pull away towards the end of the 4th quarter.

Perhaps the highlight of the game was Bing, BOMF res-member who’s had quite a year of sports as he attended his first MLB (Nationals), NFL (Redskins), and now NBA (Wizards) game. He loved every minute of the action and cheered on the Wizards until the final buzzer sounded.

Back on My Feet would like to thank the entire Washington Wizards organization for the opportunity to help raise funds and awareness for the D.C. chapter and get out to the Verizon Center for some great Wizards basketbal. Back on My Feet will be cheering for the Wizards even when they can’t make it out to the games.

Please check out the pictures from the game!