The Back on My Feet DC chapter had a great showing at the Run for Shelter 10k on April 28^th, 2012. There were over 20 resident members running and numerous more cheering at the finish line. The D.C. April Members of the Month are:

Blair House:

Res Member: Mike for his consistence and eagerness to keep running when the last race just didn’t seem long enough.

Non-res Member: Barbara for always being cheerful, and bringing muffins to the team meeting!

CSS:

Res Member: Rodan for being ready to go each morning and always wanting to run more.

Non-res Member: Amber for her energy and commitment to the team.

Emery House:

Res Member: David for his great attendance and taking the extra steps necessary to make morning runs.

Non-Res Member: Wayne for always helping out the guys and giving training tips whenever needed.

La Casa:

Res Member: Steve for keeping up 100% attendance and helping the team through a tough transition.

Non-Res Member: Carolyn for a great positive attitude and her dedication to the team.

N Street:

Res Member: Tacarra for her cheerful attitude and welcoming demeanor.

Non-Res Member: Chris for consistent attendance and helping NSV get stronger.

April has been an great month in Baltimore.  Nikia’s Nippy Nor’easter Half Marathon and Relay was a resounding success for all!  All of the teams ran with a great group from the National Transitional Jobs Network, a new partner with BoMF.  The Friday before Easter, the teams met at the harbor and had a city wide easter egg hunt!  The non-residents and alumni celebrated BoMF with an appreciation breakfast.  Congratulations and a big thank you to Rob C. from Team Helping Up for all his work in coordinating long runs on Saturdays.

April has been a BUSY month for Baltimore Station!  Teammates came out in full force for the Nikia Half, all with the hopes of beating Dan, Greg, and the rest of the race committee to the finish line. Eddie (with 100 miles under his belt) participated in his first Back on My Feet race by running a relay leg, and Roderick experienced BoMF spirit for the first time by joining teammates to cheer for the runners! Both Roderick and Jason started running at the end of March and really hit their strides in April, reaching 25 and 10 miles, respectively, and now two more resident members, Kurt and Al, have come on board, running their first few miles this month! And in other great news, after being sidelined by surgery, George is getting back to running again. The non-resident members have been busy running and racing too with the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, Baltimore’s Sole of the City 10k, and even the Boston Marathon all featuring a few BSTATers. BSTAT looks forward to finishing out April with Operation Oliver and a BSTAT Bowling Night, and May promises even more excitement!

April has been awesome for Team CP with a GREAT turn out at the Nikia Half and Relay. Jerome ran his first half marathon and crushed it in an hour and a half! Plus George, James, William, and Jordan all ran legs of the relay. Even Arnell came out to cheer and join with the CP band. The non-res came out in force as well, with many running the half marathon and relays. Team Triple Threat made up of Diane A, Nikia’s mom, and Bonnie won the oldest team award. They sure looked stylish out there! Christopher’s Place’s coaches have kept the team busy this month with track workouts, timed miles, and new routes. Four of the resident members reached their capstone, which means they are job ready. Congrats to William, James, Jordan, and Arnell! In fact, Jerome, George, Robert, and Dean Michael, are all working! And Jordan just got a job as well. The non-res have been busy this month as well between a happy hour at Sticky Rice and a few people ran the Sole of the City. Special shout out to MJ for winning second in her age group. Congrats to William (res) and Kevin (non-res) as CP’s members of the month. The team is looking forward to the Oliver 5K and the Maryland Half. The team is looking forward to introducing three new members on our team: William, Daryl, and Brandon.

April was a great month for Team Helping Up Mission! A new Rez member, Joe K., joined the team and the rest of the team is strong as always! There were several teammates who closed out March by running the Nikia Half Marathon and Relay and several who are training for the MD Half Marathon in May. Helping Up hosted a few All Team Saturday runs in April, which are great because the Helping Up runners get to see members from the other teams. The team is gearing up to run the Operation Oliver 5k on Saturday, April 28th. Also, on Sunday, April 22nd, several teammates celebrated their graduations from Helping Up Mission with a great ceremony at Martin’s West. Some teammates sponsored a table and enjoyed the very emotional ceremony. Everyone is always proud of the residential member teammates not only for what they are doing when they run, but for all they are accomplishing in their lives!

Team MCVET continues to grow! This month 3 new res members (Chris, Anthony and Terrance) were welcomed to the team as well as 6 new non-res members. Fresh off some stunning performances in the relay at the Nippy Nikia Half, team members are eagerly looking forward to the Operation Oliver 5k at the end of the month. Not only will it be a first race for several of MCVET’s newer members, it’s also a chance to get to see what many of the non-res members are involved in as it benefits the 6th Branch, a veteran-led nonprofit group that several of the team’s newest teammates are involved with. The team looks forward to getting some miles in while supporting a good cause!

Last month was full of races with the St. Patrick’s Day 8k, the SunTrust Marathon, and the NSV Invitational. Members came out in full-force for each of the races—helped by very mild March training weather and some good racing days. The D.C. Members of the Month are:

Clean and Sober Streets:

Res Member: Orlando for keeping a strong attendance rating, increasing his mileage, and being on track to reach 100 miles in his first 3 months!

Non-Res Member: Eileen for always being an active, strong supporter of the CSS team!

Emery House:

Res Member: Edward P. for his consistently strong, upbeat presence at morning runs and speaking up to recruit new members at Emery!

Non-Res Member: Wayne D. for encouraging members to push their limits and being a strong team coach.

La Casa:

Res Member: Alphonso R. for having a great attitude, keeping up attendance despite late work nights, and quickly running over 50 miles!

Non-Res Member: Ann D. for being so active in the mornings and carrying out her team leader duties.

NSV:

Res Member: Tonya for battling through her first month in the program and maintaining 100% attendance despite injuries.

Non-Res Member: Chris for consistently being active during the runs and helping N Street move forward!

February kicked off incredibly well for Back on My Feet Baltimore, with a flag football showdown at Dunbar Field early on Superbowl Sunday morning. In a feisty competition pitting Baltimore Station and MCVET against the rest, many runners showed off fancy footwork and clever plays. It may have been a more exiting match up than the real event later in the evening! The following weekend found BoMFers off the field and back on the course, with a wet and wintry Valentine’s Day 5k at Kinder Farm Park. This sold-out race was, for many, a stepping stone toward the Nikia Half Marathon. Training (and enthusiastic betting, FundRacing, and costume-planning) is well under way for the big spring race, and all teams are focused on having a great showing! As for what else each team has been up to…

ARW is thrilled to announce that Joseph Wheeler reached 500 miles this month. This wonderful accomplishment was celebrated by ARW (with the help of other teams passing through) at Inner Harbor on February 17^th. Joseph has been running with Back on My Feet since American Rescue Workers became a team in March 2010 and says he will continue to run as long as he can. He insists that “If I can do it, anyone can do it!” Congrats to Joe!

Baltimore Station also saw a member reach the 500-mile-mark; congratulations to Len on this success! Teammate Eddie reached 50 miles this month as well, and BSTAT hopes he will continue to say his catchphrase, “I made it,” after many more runs and miles. Two of our loyal Res have moved from BSTAT, but Gary and Daniel promise to return and keep training when they can.  BSTAT also welcomes new Non-Res members Jessica and John, and welcomes back an old friend in Katie.  We look forward to a team dinner coming up soon, and of course, to the spirited competition sure to be found as many of our teammates run in the Nikia Half.

For Team Christopher’s Place, February has been an awesome month. We had five guys run their first race! Even the guys that couldn’t run came out to support their fellow teammates by participating in the now famous CP band.  We also had eight members reach their capstone in February, which means they have graduated and are job ready.  Congrats to Tim, Dean Michael, Brian, Sheldon, Robert, Charles, Paul, and Brendan on this awesome accomplishment.  Dean Michael was voted this month to be team co-captain to assist Jerome in motivational duties.  George has also found employment at Mercy and will hopefully be starting soon.  We’ll miss him in the morning, but he’s still committed to evening runs and weekends to keep training for the Maryland Half.  Sarah M has taken over for Amy U as our Non-Res coordinator full time.  We fully appreciate everything that Amy has done and welcome Sarah to the core group at CP.  We also had a dessert happy hour(s) hosted by Amy and Scott.  Delicious cakes, pies, cookies, etc. were had by all.  I don’t think anyone left without being in a sugar coma .  Training for the Nikia Half is still going strong.  We thank Team HUM for their hospitality on longer distances Saturday runs.  It’s been great for all of us to have some new and familiar faces when getting out there for long distances.  We’re looking forward to acquiring a few more guys to round out a full 15-person team in the near future.  Go Team CP!

As for Team Helping Up Mission, in February we added 3 new teammates – Dwayne L., Joe M. and Ryan T.!  The team continues to remain strong with generally 20 – 40+ teammates attending each run.  Several of our teammates have increased their distances while training for the Nikia Half Marathon and others are taking part in training for the MD Half Marathon which just began.  Both races promise to be filled with lots of excitement and celebrations…and watch out for the amazing spirit that HUM teammates will bring!  Several teammates ran the Valentine’s 5k on February 11th with the following times:  Bryant J. 28:58, Dave H. 25:57, Mike B. 20:33, Frank P. 21:16, Barry B. 25:42, Tim B. 24:49 and Paul P. 23:42.  We also had a crew of boisterous supporters!  On February 12th, we went ice skating at Patterson Park Ice Rink and found out why most of us are runners and not professional ice skaters!  That is of course with the exception of the lovely Amie Bettencourt who dazzled us with her jumps and spins!  We had a great time and another fun social event is in the books.  We are looking forward to a fun March, including the Nikia Half Marathon!

All of Back on My Feet is excited for springtime weather, the sun coming up during morning runs, and of course, much racing and reveling ahead.

Circling up for the Frozen Finger 5 Miler

January was a fun month, starting with the Frozen Fingers 5 Miler, which had a mix of cross country, a road course and even some laps on a track.  A crew from Baltimore also traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in Snowlympics, a field day filled with games and friendly competition among the teams. On January 18^th, Orientation 2.0 took place where members shared their personal stories of addiction and how it has affected them and their families.

Training is underway for the 3^rd Annual Nikia’s Nippy Nor’easter Half-Marathon and Relay which will take place on March 31^st.  Several of our teammates will participate in this race, some of them running their first half marathon.  There are also relay options so this race has something for everyone.

Team Baltimore Station has charged headfirst into the new year, with excitement and eagerness for what 2012 will bring. Residential members Len and Gary hope to run half marathons again this year, and Daniel has started training for his very first half! Many non-residential members are lacing up their shoes for the Nikia Half too, and hoping to fare well on the NCR trail. Also, Mid-January saw a changing of the guard at BSTAT. After a send-off breakfast for Fast Dan (who stepped down so he could step up his training and become even faster!), Sarah took over as team leader. Her mile times might not look like Dan’s, but her smiles—and jokes and weekly videos—will hopefully make up for it. All of BSTAT looks forward to a great year ahead!

Team Christopher’s Place has had a lot of change and good times during January.  Jordyn took over as team leader and Ben H. has stepped up as the Social Coordinator.  He is SUPER enthusiastic and excited to share his ideas with the team.  Sarah M. has also stepped in to assist Amy U. as the non-residential member coordinator since the CP non-res contingent has grown to be so big!  This month we had a happy hour at the Green Turtle that was well attended.  As for the residents, EIGHT guys went down to D.C. to participate in their Snowlympics.  A good day was had by all, and the CP band lives on strong!  Residential member Jerome is now working!  While he misses some of the regular runs, he still is there when he can and is still training for the Nikia half.  George ran his first 5 miler at the Frozen Fingers race and loved every minute of it!  He is now considering training for the Maryland Half. Coaches Paul and Kevin are thinking up new ways for CP to eat hills for breakfast and are adding new fun runs including “Freaky Fridays” and “Wacky Wednesdays” to the weekly schedules.

Team McVET has had plenty of exciting news as 2011 came to an end and 2012 kicked off. Right on the heels of the birth of Maya’s daughter and Darryl M’s daughter, Walker welcomed his fourth child, JP, into the world.  Paul D. announced that he’s now expecting a fifth child so soon enough, the two of them will be able to field an entire baseball team for the rest of us to cheer on! In addition to newborns, the team welcomed Odell and Joy as our newest residential members! Also this month, existing members took on new opportunities. Ja-Aura started dental school and Tim secured an interview and a new job in Port Covington! Longtime non-residential member Lauren L. also took on duties as part of her role as an intern with BoMF Baltimore and began rotating her running schedule among all 5 teams.

Team Helping Up Mission welcomed one new member this month, Paul P.  Paul is already a runner and is very excited to be part of the team.  We had three guys run the Frozen Fingers 5 miler, Mike B. 36:22, Frank P. 37:01 and Barry B. 44:43.  We celebrated a few big accomplishments this month as Mike H. celebrated two years of sobriety and Tim B. graduated from Helping Up Mission.  After a little over a year with the team, Mike B. moved back home to get started on the next part of his journey. We are sad that Mike will no longer be at the morning runs, but very excited that things are going well for him. We love to see him so happy and able to make this step in his life!

We’re already looking at the end of 2012′s first month, and our January has been the best kind of winter! We’re thankful for warmer-than-usual temperatures on most days, snow-free sidewalks and a team that just keeps running! The votes are in, and DC’s January Members of the Month are:

Clean & Sober Streets (CSS)

Resident Member: David C. -

And, congrats to Gary D. for his newly-elected Captain status!

Non-Res. Member: Linday M.

NSV 

Resident member: LaJuana C -showing strong leadership from the start, and she’s already motivating new team members!

Non-Res. member: Sarah B – a smile that can brighten everyone’s morning, a good attitude and consistent attendance to our morning adventures!

La Casa

Resident member: Michael “Heavy” H – doing wonderfully at his new job, and now officially moved into his own apartment! Heavy continues to show tremendous dedication to his BoMF team, still joining for weekly morning runs.

Non-Res. Member: Sandra – shows up rain, shine or sub-freezing temps, with her cheerful and motivating attitude!

Emery

Resident Member: Duane W. (see picture below)

Non-Res. Member: Kyle R (see picture below)

December has always been one of the busiest and most exciting months for all of Back on My Feet Baltimore and 2011 certainly was no exception. The month kicked off with Baltimore Bash, a truly wonderful evening hosted by the Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards where friends, members and supporters of Back on My Feet Baltimore came together to reflect and celebrate the past year’s feats and accomplishments. Highlighted by a great group of speakers and a silent auction that featured a personal training session with Ray Lewis and his trainer Monte Sanders, the night was a huge success for Back on My Feet and helped raise more than $50,000 for our chapter!

As the month continued, there were plenty more plenty more reasons to celebrate both with the holidays and with a bevy of personal milestones and accomplishments in our members’ lives.

Team MCVET welcomed several new members to the roster this month including three new residential members: Chris M., Jason L., and Walter L., as well as two newborn Team MCVET’ers! Congratulations to Maya and her husband Ian on the birth of their daughter and alumni Darryl M and his wife Keta on the birth of their first child! We wish them all the best and expect to see them out running with us soon!

Team Christopher’s Place has also been growing at a rapid pace with nine new residential members joining the roster this month alone! Meanwhile, George and Jerome both graduated from their second phase at Christopher’s Place and Kani is already employed! In addition, all-star CP team member Dom, fresh on the heels of completing his first marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival has committed to and signed up for the D.C. Rock n’ Roll Marathon in March and has already started training!

Team Helping Up Mission welcomed two new teammates, Frank P. and Dre D., to the team while also celebrating Eric B. and Dave H.’s graduations and stalwart Back on My Feet’er Barry B. celebrated his third year of sobriety!

Some longtime Back on My Feet Baltimore members are transitioning into new roles as Jordyn will take over for Sadie as Christopher Place’s new team leader, Sarah steps into Fast Dan’s (bright orange!) shoes as team leader for Team Baltimore Station, and Henry T. passes the MCVET team captainship to Tim R.

December, of course, marks the holiday season, and Back on My Feet soaked up the holiday spirit with teams planning evening runs through the Miracle on 34^th Street, cookie bakes, and of course the annual holiday party and Celtic Solstice 5 miler! The holiday party was highlighted by crock pots, ugly yet festive sweaters dug out from our grandmothers’ closets, and the joy of being able to come together as a chapter to celebrate and thank each other for our commitment to Back on My Feet.  During the evening’s events, the member of the year award winners were announced to the cheers of their teammates. Mike B., from Helping Up Mission, was recognized as the Residential Member of the Year while Diane was awarded the Non-residential Member of the Year award. Congratulations to Mike and Diane, and thank you both for the hard work and time you have given to BoMF and its members over the course of the past of the year to make this such a memorable program for all of us.

Celtic Solstice Circle

Well-fueled on oatmeal, holiday cookies, pasta and chili dishes, BoMF Baltimore came out in full force for the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler in Druid Hill Park the next morning. Alumni, res, non-res and family members were all well represented among the field of more than 3,000 runners. While the day saw several PRs, first time racers, and Santa Claus costumes, it was highlighted by the return of our dear friend and teammate Sean F., of Team MCVET to the starting line. Sean was struck by a car while running on his own one night in July and after months in the hospital and physical therapy, took the starting line alongside his teammates at the morning’s race. His strength and resolve in getting there the past few months has captivated and inspired all of us and truly demonstrated that through hard work, grit and teamwork, no obstacle is too great. Sean continued to pick up more teammates as he made his way through the course, finishing alongside a huge pack of caroling and cheering teammates.

As we move into a new year, we are thankful for all the great memories and accomplishments that 2011 brought us and look forward to another great year in 2012.

Back on My Feet at the BRF

October for American Rescue Workers (ARW) was an amazing and exciting time. As the temperatures started to dip, our spirits stayed high! Patrick instilled Fun Fridays to keep that momentum going. No matter if it was Crazy Hat Fun Friday or Favorite Sports Team Fun Friday, Team ARW got up ready for fun on the run!

The Baltimore Running Festival had a lot of firsts for the team – with many members running their first marathon or half marathon. Floyd sped through the finish line at 2:15 – very impressive for his first half marathon! Quentin teamed up with three guys from Christopher’s Place to run a relay – beating the rest of his team’s splits! Finally, Harold PR’d from Nikia’s Nippy Nor’easter 5k with a time of 36:06. Alumni Darius ran a really strong half too! Thanks to Harold, Kevin, and the rest of Team ARW for helping at the Mile 22 water stop – we never could have run those last couple miles without your tasty beverages!

In other very exciting Team ARW news, Kevin A. was inducted as a Back on My Feet Baltimore Alumni. Current Alumni Darius was on hand to present Kevin with his monumental award along with a few touching words. We are so proud of Kevin as he moves his life forward with a great big smile on his face! Stay cool Kevin!

October was a big month for team Baltimore Station. At long last, October 15^th brought the Baltimore Running Festival – the pinnacle of many impressive training efforts. We had two residential members participate in the half marathon, Len L. with a time of 1:53:16, and Gary A. with a time of 2:41:33. It was Gary’s first half marathon, and Len pointed out that he had run another half more than 20 years ago only a couple minutes faster. As he put it, age has not slowed him down very much! We also fielded a marathon relay team, with three of the four spots taken up by Baltimore Station members. Kenny M., Sam M., and George H. each ran a leg of approximately 6.5 miles. Another runner from Philadelphia joined them to fill out the team. Eight of our non-residential members joined the party as well, many running the half marathon.

Team Christopher’s Place also had a great showing at the Baltimore Running Festival with more than 15 non-residential members running, and almost all of our residential members participating as well! Kani, George, and James all ran the 5k, while Jerome, Solomon, Abdullah, and Steven raced in the relay! Brian cut 30 minutes off his marathon time and Dominique completed his first marathon and crossed the finish line with the support of team Christopher’s Place and other Back on My Feet Baltimore runners. If you haven’t seen this video yet, chronicling his journey, you have to check it out! Even Tony and Ricky, alumni, came out to cheer us all on, and several Christopher’s Place teammates manned the BoMF water stop. It was a day many of us will never forget.

In other news, many of our members are also are looking forward to the Tuerk House 5k on November 5^th to cut time off of their previous races.

Finally, Team Christopher’s Place is happy to report that Erick got a job working for the MTA and Michael got a new job in the kitchen at the NSA. We’re also very excited to celebrate the alumni induction of Johnathan and Brian this month.

October was also a great month for Team Helping Up Mission Baltimore (THUMB)!  Many of our teammates ran in the Baltimore Running Festival, with several running a distance for the first time. It was quite a celebration with all five Baltimore teams as well as Philly and D.C. in attendance.  Here is a recap of the time for the members who ran:  5k – Eric L. 34:50, Stefan B. 28:49, and Bryant J. 30:07.  Relay (approx. 7 miles) – Eric B.  1:07:00. Half Marathon – Nicko R. 2:05:13, Tim B. 1:58:25, Steven W. 3:11:53, and Dave H. 2:11:10. Marathon – Barry B. 4:44:54 and Mike B. 3:46:52. We are so proud of all our runners!

Not only did Eric L. run the 5k at the Baltimore Running Festival this month, on October 7^th he graduated from Helping Up Mission. Congrats, Eric! Steven W. celebrated 250 miles with the team and ran his first half marathon while Mike B. passed 500 miles and completed his first marathon!

Team MCVET also had an exciting October. Alumni member Carlos entered the Baltimore County Fire Department. Residential members Tim, Ja-Aura, and Jay all ran their first half marathons at the Baltimore Running Festival, while Kevin and Henry ran the 5k. Alums Greg and Arnold ran the half marathon at BRF and also ran the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct 30 (the third marathon for both of them). Greg was inducted into alumni status on October 27^th. Finally, non residential member Ricky O. left for a year-long deployment with his Airborne Unit in Kuwait. Our thoughts are with him and we are looking forward to running with him when he returns!

Baltimore’s September Team Updates

With September nearly behind us and fall in the air, Back on My Feet Baltimore is looking forward to the Baltimore Running Festival, a day where we runners get the city all to ourselves!

September started on a very interesting note with the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix Indy Car race in town for the first weekend. The downtown racing course split the city in half, but that did not stop our teams from getting in their Saturday long run. Though all five teams could not meet up as normal, we arranged two separate meeting points so no one would miss their miles. Now that is dedication!

On Sunday the 18^th, the chapter attended an Orioles game at Camden Yards.  Back on My Feet was recognized at the game.  Even though the Orioles were blown out by the Angels 11-2, the group had a great time.

On the weekend of the 23^rd, Back on My Feet (Baltimore and D.C.!) sent numerous teams of runners and volunteers to participate in the Ragnar Relay, a 200 mile relay race from Cumberland, MD to Washington, D.C. Two 12-person teams participated including “Team BoMF Bmore/DC,” and “We Are the BoMF.” Those not running helped out at relay exchange zones and even cooked up some pancakes at one of the rest stops.  Don’t let the term “volunteer” fool you; they worked just as hard as the runners did!

With that, here are some highlights from the teams:

Baltimore Station has been focusing on diligently getting its miles in for the Baltimore Running Festival. Len has been very consistent and looks nearly ready for his first half marathon. He even participated in the Ragnar Relay, running some of the hardest and longest legs of the race. Gary has had a tough time getting his long runs in on Saturday, but thanks to the dedication of Training Coach Susan and Social Coordinator Dana, the three of them have been doing their runs on Fridays. Gary should definitely be ready for his half marathon! Get those miles in any way you can!

Christopher’s Place welcomed four new residential members this month, most of whom are super speedy. In his third week of running, Jerome kicked out a 23 minute 3-miler. Like whoa. James and Solomon reached their 10 miles in record time and George is learning to love those hills.

Kani, Dom, Erick and Tony all joined others from Christopher’s Place and Back on My Feet Baltimore for the Oriole’s game on September 18th. We had a great time, despite the team’s loss.

Our non-residential members have been super busy this month! Both Claire and Brendan qualified for the Boston Marathon! Jordyn ran the Rock and Roll Philly half! Amy M. competed in a triathlon and beat her PR by more than 10 minutes. She says it’s all that training for the Baltimore Running Festival that helped her shave that huge chunk off! Amy U. walked 60 miles for Breast Cancer and Sadie walked 30 miles for the National MS Society. We’re all over the place!

MCVET is proud to announce that Greg “The Road Runner” S. passed his GED exam! This was a great display of teamwork and support, as fellow Back on My Feet teammates Karem B., Erin H., Claire C., Kim C. and Mike M. all worked together to help Greg with his studies. Congratulations Greg!

Team Helping Up Mission Baltimore (THUMB) welcomed two new residential teammates in September, David F. & Bryant J. David & Bryant have already logged a few miles with the team and are really enjoying themselves.

Moses J. and Nicko R. celebrated completing 250 miles with the team, while Barry B. just completed 2,000 miles since joining Back on My Feet in 2009!  Nicko R. is training for his first half marathon and Barry is training to complete another marathon.

On September 16th, our teammate and friend, Steven W., graduated from Helping up Mission and celebrated one year of sobriety. Steven is training for his first half marathon and has several great things going on in his life. We are all so proud of him. Congratulations Steven!

We are getting closer to the Baltimore Running Festival on October 15^th. THUMB will have many teammates running the races, with several running this event for the very first time. We are really excited for the day to arrive. We have logged many miles in preparation and it is sure to be a great celebration for many of our teammates!

St. John’s:

With the majority of our members planning to participate in half or full marathons in the coming months, August marked the beginning of Fall race training for the St. John’s Team.

With the team logging miles at record speed this month, team coach Heather decided it was time to mix in some cross-training. Philadelphia Sports Club was generous enough to donate a SPIN room for our use one Friday morning, and former team leader of RWA, Megan Oxenford instructed the team in an intense 45 minutes of spinning, and singing to the original St. John’s requested playlist.

At the Wissahickon Wanderer’s Track Meet, St. John’s proved that training is paying off.  Bob set a new PR during his 5k race around the track, Mike P. showed us that walking is a thing of the past and he is ready to run, and the St. John’s relay team (Dan, Ron, Henry and Leonard) closed out the night with a great performance!

Sheila Dennis:

We celebrated our team’s 1^st birthday with cake and dancing. Esterlina, Lisa, and Eleanor all began classes in Philadelphia’s OIC program.  Esterlina earned her 50 mile medal and 60 mile watch. Lisa and Rhoda earned their 30 mile shirts.  Dawn, Wilma, Eleanor, and Jesse ran the 400m at the Wissahickon Wanderers Track meet. Dawn and Jesse also joined a relay medley.

Our Brother’s Place:

First, team OBP would like to give a HUGE thanks to Pete DeCarolis for serving as our team leader for the last 6 months. Pete brought a tremendous amount of dedication, patience and a genuine sense of caring to our team. He’s a terrific guy and a wonderful friend to us all. He always brings his clever sense of humor and always makes each of us happy to be living in the moment. Thanks Pete!

Our new team leader is Marisa Jones. She’s been with the team for quite a while. She’s a natural leader, someone we all predicted would eventually take the helm. We are all glad that she did! We’re looking at an active 6 months ahead of us.  Thanks you Marisa for your commitment to our team.

OBP is super excited to welcome our new res-members. Just as our team was beginning to feel like a small group, we’ve added Mequan,  Jeree, and Adam. For milestones, Lamar has already crossed the 50 mile mark while Dave F. reached 100 miles! WOW! Congrats to Dave!

We witnessed stellar performances by Olani, Lamar, Christine, Pete D., Pete S., Matt, and Sebastian at the Wissahickon Wanderers Track Meet, capped off with a 3rd place finish by Team OBP (Lamar, Christine, Matt and Pete S.) in the Distance Medley Relay! The full team will be meeting up this weekend for some roller skating, which should make for a few good laughs and memories.

New Jerusalem Now

August was another great month at NJN. After the crazy July, many of our team members enjoyed the more relaxing month of August. We participated in the track meet. We loved being able to include more of our team with the shorter events. Our ladies participated in the 400-meter relay. Dave set a personal best in the mile! Mohamed also ran in the 2 miles. Awesome work guys! We continued to keep pushing our running in our training runs. Almost everyone on the team is doing at least half of the mileage at run and the other half at a jog. We have many team members who are working towards their first 5k race.

We added several new volunteers throughout the month of August. Our fearless leader was off on vacation for much of August, so we give a big thanks out to our awesome volunteers for helping to keep our team running smoothly! We also added new team members Dan and Nikki. The new res members just reached their first 10 miles! Mereald reached 250 miles and Palmar hit 50 miles. Mohamed is also starting classes at CCP.

A sad event that affected our team was the loss of Roswell, an awesome and well respected non-res. We will miss him greatly and proudly participated in a memorial run and organized cards for his family. We will always remember this amazing person and he will always be a part of our team. Some of our residents have also dedicated future races to his memory.

As we start to move into the cooler fall weather, we are looking forward to our social events and a lot of awesome fall races which we are working on building towards and having more entries in! Come out and join us for a morning run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:40AM!

Ready, Willing, and Able:

August was a hot month for team Ready, Willing and Able, but that didn’t keep us from getting our miles in! Therion and Wardell have managed to keep their attendance at a whopping 100% while James is close behind at 99%. Both Therion and Wardell have also attended Saturday runs to help train for the ING half marathon and potentially the Philly full marathon! Maurice, our team captain, recently reached 250 miles while balancing his busy work schedule. We congratulate all of you! We recently welcomed in two new res members: Vern and Todd, who both bring an optimistic attitude and unwavering smiles to our morning circle. Lastly, Sarah stepped down from her position as team leader. Her positive spirits motivated the team and made every member feel welcome. One res member has even described her as the “Energizer Bunny” due to her upbeat attitude. We all thank you for everything that you have done!