This weekend ended with another race-day success! The Back on My Feet DC chapter teamed up and headed to the Baltimore Running Festival.  We were well represented by our veteran racers, with a few first-time marathoners in the mix!

This was the first marathon for our resident members Smiley, Marque E., Marvin O. and Dave W. Chris & Walter – both ultra marathon runners, who recently ran as part of our Ragnar Relay team – were our veteran marathoners. Our volunteers & members had a great day cheering on our runners, along with the 5,000 other racers tackling the longest distance of the day!

All of our racers crossed the finish line in under 5 1/2 hours – Walter even came away with a new marathon PR. A huge congrats goes out to all who participated!

Click here for more photos from the weekend.

The Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walkathon is still one month away, but the some students are already taking action and doing their part. DC’s Eastern High School hosted their own Mini-walk today, with excellent attendance and spirited walkers!

Anyone can host a “Mini-walk“, and they are a great way to get the community around you involved in the Help the Homeless program. These walks are “a group of people coming together to walk in support of one of the Help the Homeless nonprofit service providers“ - such as Back on My Feet. A mini-walk can be hosted by any group, or community, such as athletic teams, neighborhoods, university/college clubs, schools, etc.

We’re honored that the students and faculty at Eastern High School organized this event! We’re looking forward to more mini-walks, as we all gear up for the big Walkathon on the National Mall, held on November 19, 2011.

On Sunday, October 2, the Back on My Feet DC teams participated in the Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon race. The runners completed 13.1 miles starting in Alexandria, VA and traveling to the finish line in National Harbor, MD.

This race was part of the Pacers Events 2011 Race Series, and benefited Back on My Feet.

Resident member runners Dave W., David C, Thornell M. and Marvin O. ran strong and hard representing the Clean & Sober Streets team.  The Emery House team was represented by Marque E., Chris H. and Scotty W. crossing the finish line. From Blair House, we had Tyrone D. & Shon K..

Congrats to all of our half-marathon finishers, who had a great race day and even some Personal Records out there on the course! We had a great time running with you, cheering you on and watching accomplish another goal.

The Rugged and Raw 10K/20K Trail Run benefitting Back on My Feet on October 22 is more than just a race. It is more than a physical challenge to overcome. You are becoming a part of a greater purpose and providing an opportunity for those facing homelessness to break down walls that prevent them from moving forward.

By participating in this race you are supporting those who want to change for the better and want to become a part of society by engaging in the workplace. Helping others just takes small steps but impacts them greatly. Why not take a chance at transforming someone’s life? Share some of the transformations you’ve witnessed over the past eight months with Back on My Feet Dallas-Fort Worth in the comments section.

Register for the Rugged and Raw 10K/20K and trek down the scenic trails of Lake Grapevine on October 22^nd.

Back on My Feet was the official charity of this year’s Washington DC Ragnar Relay. The Baltimore and DC chapters joined forces to create three relay teams of twelve runners to compete in the series this past weekend, and all of our runners did an amazing job!

Team member, Dominic R., was featured in the Baltimore Sun’s article, “Ragnar Relay a step on the path to recovery for some“.  He has been running with our Baltimore team since February, completing multiple 5Ks, and already training for a half marathon next month!

Our teams were made up of residents & volunteers, who all came together to complete the 198 mile journey. The race started on Friday in Cumberland, MD, taking the runners (and support crew!) through the Appalachian Mountains and towns of Maryland, ending in Washington DC on Saturday afternoon.

Running through the night, up the hills and around the towns brought us back to the National Harbor and across the final finish line.

Congratulations to our runners and volunteers!

We also want to say Thank You, to all of our Fundracers and fundraisers for joining us in this challenge.  We had a great time partnering with the event and motivating our team members to tackle the weekend-long race!

Although it was a chilly September morning, there was a great turnout for Back on My Feet DC’s 2nd annual All Feet on Deck event Sunday.  Teams were well represented and there was enthusiastic participation from community members, as well!

All Feet on Deck, originally slated as an August 5K fun run and pool party at Hains Point, brought all of our teams together for a 3.2ish mile loop.  It was the first 5K for many of our members and everyone completed the run successfully!

“It is a great way to introduce the concept of a ‘race’ to many of our members who haven’t run one before,” said Amy Vokes, Program Director for Back on My Feet DC.

Stephanie Remick, new to the Back on My Feet DC family as Member Services Manager, said “This was my first BoMF DC program event and it was a blast!”

While the weather was a little chilly for swimming, teams made their own fun with pick up games of soccer, Frisbee, wiffle ball and even hula hooping!  We hope you’ll join us next year for the 3rd annual All Feet on Deck!  Special thanks to PopChips and Honest Tea for donating to the event!  Pictures from the event are on Facebook and Picasa!

Nobody believed in them.  They scored 6 points in 2010.  They were tantalizingly ambushed by water-balloons and they weren’t sure they would even have more than 10 people come out for the event.  Stacked against all odds, Baltimore Station stood victorious at the end of the day on Saturday at the 3^rd Annual Wipeout , not only embodying the spirit of Baltimore, but exhibiting a perseverance in the face of adversity that epitomizes the mission of Back on My Feet.

All teams came rowdy and ready to rumble on Saturday though, not just BSTAT.  Helping Up lived up to their reputation with a victory in the cheer category, (HUM Team Cheer) though ARW stole the spirit award from right under their noses, showing up with green face paint and fetching green streamer wigs.  Back on My Feet DC brought their A-game, particularly in the wheelbarrow event and in the tug-o-war, crushing the referees in a dominating fashion.  Although Team CP gave BSTAT a run for their money for the tug of war title, they truly exemplified their talents in the water balloon toss and leapfrog competitions.  TL Sadie also took home the Mike DiJulia Award for rallying her team throughout the day with the CP battle cry.

MCVET proudly boasted the best individual scuttler Greg S., who scuttled like nobody had ever seen before, locking up their victory in the crabwalk relay race.

When the scores were tallied and the field calmed down, teams left to begin plotting their strategy for revenge on the Ivan Drago impostor and the BSTAT team in WIPEOUT 2012.

This past Sunday, BoMF Indy made our way over to Victory Field to catch the Indians game! Over fifty BoMF friends showed up to support the home team and have a fun day of socializing with one another.

We made it through four innings before it started raining, but that didn’t ruin our day!

Dan and William enjoying some watermelon and sunshine!

Tom and Mike – good friends and running buddies

The field…. before the rain came down……

Taking cover from the rain…….

We all thought we brought blankets to sit on, but turns out they ended up being the shelter from the rain….

Although the day was cut short due to rainy weather, we still had a lot of fun. We enjoyed the company of one another, the sunshine while it lasted, baseball, yummy picnic food and standing in the rain laughing.

We can’t wait for the next outing!

A BIG thank you to Sandy Knox and Deb Gardner for planning this event! Everyone had a blast!

Wednesday August 3^rd the team members from Clean and Sober streets went out to support the Washington Nationals in their game versus the Atlanta Braves. It was a cheerful, fun afternoon of team building as everyone got to know each other a little better between handfuls of popcorn. The rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit and the whole group celebrated by singing Take me Out to the Ball Game in honor of one member Charles King’s first baseball game. We were even featured on the jumbotron!

CSS Volunteers and Members @ the Nationals Game

N Street Village hosted their Fifth Annual N Street Village Luncheon to benefit the community and raise awareness about the programs they offer.  The event was held at the National Press Club with N Street Village Executive Director Schroeder Stribling kicking off the afternoon.  Back on My Feet was presented with the Community Ally Award for the support that our program has offered women in the N Street Village community.  BoMF Washington DC Executive Director Autumn Campbell accepted the award for BoMF and gave a wonderful speech (the audience laughed, the audience cried) to the 100+ person crowd filling the banquet room on the top floor.

Dr. Johnnetta Cole, Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and President Emerita of Bennett College for Women and Spelman College gave what was arguably the greatest introduction speech the world has ever heard.  With a voice that conjures up memories of traditional Southern Baptist preachers, Dr. Cole brought Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-chief emeritus of Essence magazine and founder of the National CARES Mentoring Movement up to the stage to give the keynote address.  Speaking on the urgent need for community building surrounding youth and vulnerable women, Susan had a captive audience that was undoubtedly motivated by her words.  The call to action heard today will benefit the N Street Village community as well National CARES Mentoring Movement.

Many Back on My Feet NSV runners were in attendance for the event, as well as team leader Lauren G.  You can see a few of the pictures here on our Picasa photo album.

NSV Luncheon