April has proved the first part of the saying “April showers, bring May flowers” to be true. We are hoping May will bring sunshine and flowers! Despite the lack of cooperation on Mother Nature’s part, eight of our ten active residential members have maintained 90% or greater attendance rates.
On April 16th, five of our residential members (Michael, Domingo, Javier, Issac, Maurice) and four non-residential members ran the CARA Lakefront 10 Miler race. It was rainy, cold, and windy but, we all had fun and it marked Javier’s longest run to date and Maurice’s first race. Team members Raydent, Alex, and Sara helped provide hydration at the BoMF aid station at mile 6 of the race.
On April 23rd, some of our team met the other two Chicago BoMF teams at Lawson House YMCA for a fun morning of running around the city on a photo scavenger hunt. It was a great way to get in miles while having fun and getting to know the other teams better.
Although BoMF did not participate in the Shamrock Shuffle Race on April 10th, several of our team members volunteered at the packet pick-up and at the start corrals on the day of the race.
Non-residential members Sara and Mo created a strength training and stretching program for our team to help keep us strong and injury-free. After our run on April 13th, our team had fun going through the program together.
In other news: New member Alan has fit right in and has maintained 100% attendance rate in his first month! Alan and Matthew have both been working hard at increasing their mileage and are now able to run 3.5 mile runs. Javier has been enjoying his new job and has been successful at juggling his new schedule and getting to our Saturday morning runs. Raydent is taking a Building Maintenance course through St.Leonard’s programming. Issac has been doing some temporary work with a construction company along with going to school. Issac, on behalf of Cease-Fire and St.Leonard’s, has taken the time to speak to high-risk high-school students on the topic of Gang Prevention. Maurice moved into St. Andrew’s Court, which provides private apartments to St.Leonard’s residents. Francis moved to his own apartment and with his grant money from BoMF purchased a bike so that he has transportation to school and BoMF runs.
On April 30th, our team is looking forward to the CPD Run to Remember 5K. Several of our members are running the race, volunteering for packet pick-up or on race day, and/or participating in the BoMF cheer section.
This month’s members of the month were: Sara (non-residential) and Raydent (residential).
Non-residential Member of the Month: Sara Whalin
Sara began running with the Back on My Feet St. Leonard’s team way back in September, and immediately began providing the team with smiles, encouragement, and cheer! She has also taken on a leadership role within the team, serving as the Team Organizer. Always thinking of new ways to help out, this past month Sara put her physical therapy knowledge to use by putting together an injury-prevention exercise routine for the team. Sara has enjoyed sharing her love of running with others. As she puts it:
“Being a part of BoMF has been an amazing experience. It has reminded me to never underestimate the power of running. I have loved meeting guys as they first join the team and may have never run more than a mile or two at one time. Many of them have “caught the bug” and are eager to get out and run and to increase their mileage. Running has been the common denominator that gets us all out of bed at 5am. It then leads us to conversation, sweat, and camaraderie that wouldn’t be possible without Back on my Feet!”
Residential Member of the Month: Raydent Davis
Raydent joined Back on My Feet in January 2011. Despite the cold Chicago winter, Raydent quickly took to running, never complaining about the sub-zero temperatures or strong winds! In the four short months since, he has accrued 113 miles while maintaining 95 percent overall attendance! He even participated in his first race, the Chicago Police Department’s Run to Remember 5k on April 30th! Outside of running, Raydent recently began taking classes towards his recertification in beauty school. As he would tell you:
“After I was released from prison, I started out at a different transitional center. I quickly found that they really didn’t have any structure, and I wanted a superior quality of life than what they were offering. I had applied to St. Leonard’s before getting released, and once I re-contacted them they already had my information and it was able to work out. After I arrived at St. Leonard’s, I noticed the running group, and you wonder, “What is this that’s going on, and why am I not a part of it?” So after a while, I asked the question to get rid of the curiosity, and the rest is history. My experience with the BoMF team has been really positive. Running has increased my stamina, allowed me to meet new people and take part in a positive environment. I now get to be surrounded by interesting people doing interesting things and helping one another. Having an opportunity to network with these individuals; living is living, and you never know where life will take you, so it’s good to have as many friends as possible and be structurally sound, and BoMF has enabled that for me. So I’m grateful.”
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