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!

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!

On June 11^th, BoMF participated in a special 5k race in conjunction with the Madison-Chicago Ragnar Relay at Montrose Beach in Chicago. BoMF was proud to be the official charity partner of this year’s Madison-Chicago Ragnar Relay, a 200 mile overnight relay race comprised of teams of twelve runners competing along a course stretching from Madison, WI to Chicago, IL. Fifteen BoMF residential members and a host of non-residential members participated in the 5k, which mirrored the last leg of the relay race. After watching the winning relay team complete the race, BoMF members had their own chance to cross the finish line and celebrate the completion of their 5k! Ragnar Relay officials greeted BoMF members as they finished by shouting their names and BoMF mileage over the loudspeaker. BoMF participants enjoyed taking part in the unique event, and many stuck around to watch the other relay teams finish their 200 mile trek. A big thank you to Ragnar Relay for all of their support! To view more pictures from the Madison-Chicago Ragnar Relay and BoMF Ragnar Relay 5k, click here!

Blair House has been busy for the month of February.  Wilford S. and Bobby T. both ran in their first race, the Love the Run You’re With 5K hosted by Pacers Events.  Omar H. and Kevin C. both joined the new Blair House racers in taking on the course.  Allen S. has unfortunately been sidelined due to a shin injury, but he was there to cheer on his teammates!  Amanda E., originally of 801 East fame, hosted a post race brunch for both Blair house and 801 East at her apartment after the race!  Both Stephanie V. and Anastasia C. have teamed up with Ragnar Relay Race by joining the Ragnar Brigade to spread the word about this amazing race series who have partnered with Back on My Feet Washington DC to make us their official charity sponsor.

Omar H. just got a job working with Washington Gas Energy Services, as well as attending the Skills to Succeed seminar hosted by our Next Steps partner Accenture.

For the month of February Wilford S. was selected as the Blair House member of the month, and David M., team organizer, was selected as the non-residential member of the month.  Both members have provided consistent effort and drive to help the team stay strong through the month!  Both members are quite happy to see the cold weather breaking and the temps rising quickly for their morning runs!

Back on My Feet is the official charity partner for Ragnar Relay New England. That means Ragnar will donate $300 for every team that registers with the BOMF code: NE11BOMF.

Make your miles count for more than just distance by running the Ragnar Relay for BOMF. But wait … what is a Ragnar?

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Team YMCA Lawson House with Andria Huskinson

Ragnar Relays Chicago Race Director Andria Huskinson joined Back on My Feet Chicago at its morning run on Jan. 12. Formerly known as the Madison-Chicago Relay (MC200), Back on My Feet Chicago is the official charity partner for Ragnar Relays Chicago held June 10-11, 2011. Andria had the opportunity to meet team members during a trip to Chicago where she worked to iron out various event details and executed local market promotions for the race.

Ragnar Relays will donate $300 to Back on My Feet Chicago for every team that uses the promotion code “CH11BOMFZ” when registering. Back on My Feet Chicago will also offer participants the opportunity to join its fight against homelessness by FundRacing for the organization. FundRacers who raise $100 or more for Back on My Feet Chicago will receive benefits such as a personal website to raise funds online, e-mails with training tips and inspirational stories, invitations to fun runs and social events, Back on My Feet gear and discounts at Back on My Feet Chicago’s running store partner, Universal Sole, among others. FundRacers can sign up online at www.active.com/donate/BOMFChiRagnar.

Six months up, six months down. September has now come and gone with races, injuries and darker days (in the morning because it’s fall) descending upon the team, but the Rescue Rangers are moving forward lighting up the mornings regardless.

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The Clean and Sober Streets gang got a lot accomplished in September!

Lewis S. and Eugene S. enrolled in computer training courses at Byte Back and 6 members of the CSS team finished their first half marathon!

On September 19th, Lewis, Eugene, D’Angelo, Dedric, Dave & Jack crossed the finish line at the Woodrow Wilson Half after 13.1 miles of hard work and determination.  For weeks they had been putting lots of time and effort in on long Saturday runs and it was quite a success to have each one finish strong!

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September was a great month for team Emery House!

Four of the fourteen runners to cross the finish line at the Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon were from Emery House, while a few others who weren’t running volunteered at the finish and did a fabulous job of cheering everyone on.

The entire team had a great meal together at the pre-race-pasta-carbo-loading-party hosted by non-res runners Kathy & Dave M.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves – stuffing their faces with pasta and jamming out on Rock Band.

Also, many Emery House members came to the September social – BOMF’s Night at the Nats – and enjoyed watching the Nationals beat the Astros!

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