Back on My Feet is excited to participate in this year’s CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon; for Back on My Feet, this will be the organization’s seventh consecutive year participating in the full marathon, half marathon and 5K races.
Back on My Feet is a national nonprofit organization which combats homelessness through the power of running, community support and essential employment and housing resources. Back on My Feet has been serving the Indianapolis community since 2011.
In addition to being the 10th anniversary for the Monumental, this year’s marathon race will be particularly special for one member of Back on My Feet (BoMF.) Meet Wes; he has been involved with BoMF Indy since December 2016. Wes was living in Pathway to Recovery, which is provides safe, affordable, substance-free housing for more than 94 homeless men, women, and families. He sought salvation at Pathway to Recovery after many years of living on the streets, battling addiction.
Since joining BoMF, Wes has fallen in love with running.
“BoMF introduced me to running,” Wes said. “I think I always loved running but BoMF helped me find my love for it. I love to run!”
Wes has participated in numerous races around Indy, including two half-marathons; this Fall’s Monumental will be his first full marathon distance.
“I recently completed my first 18-mile training run and it blows my mind that I still have 8 more miles to go when racing a marathon,” Wes reflected. “Overall, [my training] has been going very well and I have been getting so much love and support from so many different people. Everyone is so excited for me and I have found something that I can look forward to, that I love doing.”
One future training opportunity that Wes is looking forward to the most is BoMF Indy’s own race, the Marathon Relay. The Marathon Relay is a unique race in which teams of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 individuals split up a marathon distance via a 2.2 mile loop in White River State Park. Each year, BoMF also encourages participants to utilize the Marathon Relay for their Monumental training.
“This will be my first time participating in the Marathon Relay,” Wes said. “I’ve heard that the event is a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to the fellowship during the event. I also am planning on using this as an opportunity to get another long training run in for my Monumental race. I’m looking forward to using this race to run with my teammates, it will make my usually solo training runs more fun!”
BoMF encourages all Monumental participants to use the Marathon Relay as one of their long training runs. The race is supported with water, Gatorade and race nutrition and it will also help raise funds for BoMF’s mission. Running while giving back to your local community – it’s a win-win!
Consider putting together a team for this year’s Marathon Relay. Race your long run #RelayStyle. It’ll be your best training run, guaranteed!