The Ashtabula Distance Runners Board is pleased to announce the start of the second year of an ADR-sponsored community running program called “Run for Your Life” to use running to help men and women in recovery from chemical dependence.
For the second consecutive year, ADR received a $1,000 grant from Ashtabula County Medical Center (ACMC) to help offset some of the costs to continue this community program. We are grateful for this support from ACMC and we look forward to continuing the partnership with Lake Area Recovery Center and Turning Point in Ashtabula Township.
Run for Your Life is a Couch to 5K program involving participants staying at Turning Point and consists of men and women group runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:45 pm and Sundays at 6 pm at the facility. The fall season of Run for Your Life begins Tuesday, September 3.
Each workout lasts for roughly 30 minutes, using a C25K app on mobile devices for guidance, with mostly walking in the beginning of the program and gradually replacing walking with some running during each workout until participants are able to run for about 30 minutes.
The ultimate goal for this session of the Run for Your Life program starting in September is for participants to complete the Bridge to Bridge 5K on Sunday Oct. 27 at no charge to the participants.
If that goal is met, the participants also will receive complimentary ADR memberships for the remainder of 2019 and for all of 2020 as a way to provide even more incentive to become part of a great and supportive group of people and to continue with an active and healthy lifestyle.
ADR is looking for volunteers to help lead the group runs. Can you help? During each session, the group runs are split into two groups during which time men run with men leaders and women run with women leaders. We complete laps that are almost a half mile each around the Donohue Center complex.
If you’ve been looking for a way for running to help you give back to others and make a difference, this is a your opportunity. If you are interested, and we hope you are, please contact any ADR Board member. We could use your help to continue to build this program!
The first year of the Run for Your Life program was an initial success and blossomed into four different sessions – two in the fall and two in the spring. In total, 28 participants completed the program by finishing an ADR Club race.
During our first year of the program, 11 participants ran the Bridge to Bridge 5K in October, five (5) ran the Jingle Bell 5K in December, eight (8) ran the Shamrock Kickoff 2-Mile in March, and four (4) ran the Run for Kids 5K in April.
Several Run for Your Life alumni have been able to give back to the program and began helping to lead informal group runs this summer at Turning Point and at the Agape Club in Ashtabula. Run for Your Life alumni are also volunteering for the upcoming Run For Your Life program beginning September 3.
Run for Your Life has also sparked an interest from others, not necessarily who were past program participants, but who are in recovery and have joined ADR as club members and have become a part of the running community. It has been an amazing life-changing year and we look forward to continued success.