Running Works

RW Team at Super Bowl 4 Miler in front of Bank of America Stadium

            Race season has begun for RunningWorks! The past two weekends have been nothing short of exciting as we begin a jam-packed schedule of 2016 racing with our homeless young men, women and children through various non-profit affiliate partners and magnanimous race directors. Not just being the charitable beneficiary, but also taking part in these events is the lifeblood of our organization because it enables our group to feel the discipline of training, confidence of competing, sense of belonging of teamwork, accountability of volunteering and self-respect of finishing each and every time. As the charitable beneficiary, we are able to raise much-needed funds to expand programming, help with schooling, stable and emergency housing, assist with medical issues, purchase equipment and provide opportunities to the team as they arise. However, most of our funding comes from individual donors and contributions made via grant.*

RW Group at Winter Flight 8k/5k in Salisbury, NC

            In the first race, we partnered with our affiliate in Salisbury, North Carolina, where we started a program nearly one year ago at Rowan Helping Ministries (RHM). RHM is a beautiful, 165-bed shelter about an hour away from Charlotte, and the Winter Flight 8k/5k benefitted their programming, which in turn helps RunningWorks. We were happy to support this awesome race and race director David Freeze, who allowed us to load up 15 of our Charlotte RW team to take part in their special day. These days are always about so much more than racing as we volunteer before and after the event helping set up and take down barriers, pick up trash, and put away tables. The best part of the day is the family-style meal we celebrate post-race all sitting together at a huge table in a restaurant. In Salisbury, little Alli ran her second 5k ever on a really hilly course and I had the pleasure of being her pacer with another volunteer and friend Jaime McDonald. It got a little dicey sometimes, but being a kindergarten teacher as well as a coach has taught me great patience as well as the ability to be firm when necessary. She finished in 48 minutes! Her big brother Alex, who is seven-years-old, ran his eleventh race with our founder, Meredith Dolhare, and finished second amongst all of our RW Team 5k participants in an incredible 34 minutes. No joke, this course was hard.

Alli finishing her second 5k with me and Jaime McDonald

            We trained everyone throughout the week at the programs and kept them focused for our biggest event of the year, the Super Bowl 4 Miler this past Super Bowl Sunday in Charlotte—right in front of Bank of America stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. Justin Ratike and Sisu Events put on this race for us—plus two others to benefit RunningWorks—and they are amazing advocates / friends for our cause. To put it simply, in its second year, the Super Run drew nearly 2000 people and will raise just around $10k for RunningWorks, which is phenomenal. We provide all of the volunteers, and we are grateful for the outpouring of support we had in this regard—about 50 volunteers showed up on race day. Our RW Team helps with set up and teardown in addition to trash at the end of the race even though most of them run the race as well. 

          

Alex in the masses at the Super Bowl Run

          Little Alex ran his longest race to date in cold conditions following being interviewed on our local NBC news affiliate; he never walked and ran 45 minutes on the dot. This week, I had the pleasure of pacing him with Meredith. I had never gotten to run with him in a race before and I am looking forward to seeing him tow the line in USATF Nationals one day! He really does have talent and great form, not to mention fortitude and competitive drive. He would see another little boy older than him and take off after him with a determined look on his face no matter how much he was hurting. Inspiration all over the place! Several of our men placed in their age groups for an all-around perfect day.

Meredith and Alex on NBC morning news pre race

            The only thing that could have gone better for Super Bowl Sunday was if my Carolina Panthers had shown up for their big day. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has bad days out there. Unfortunately, ours came on the biggest day in American sports. It is a lesson to be learned in humility and preparation. My only hope is that it was actually heeded. Maturity and experience go a very long way not only in sports, but also in life. Congratulations to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos for being true ballers. Onward and upwards!

RW Team volunteering with Kids Fun Run

       *If you would like to donate to RunningWorks, please visit our website at www.RunningWorks.org and click to donate at our secure PayPal site, or look for information on how to send checks. Any and all support is much needed and appreciated.