• Baltimore Station
• MC VETS
• Helping Up Mission

FIRST RUN – MARCH 16, 2009

WELCOME TO HELPING UP MISSION TEAM PAGE!

After a somber and reflective month of April, when members mourned the passing of original team member Rich Smith, May was eventful - with plenty of good news, great race results, and many smiling new faces.

The residential members of Team Helping Up were pounding the pavements and racking up the miles this month. Leading the way in May was Barry, who on the 11th of May was only the third Helping Up member to hit the 50-mile mark – not bad for someone who had only joined in April! Shortly after, Johnny and Dave reached 50 miles and Rob, led the charge as the first to reach 100 miles!

Perhaps encouraged by the example set by these older statesmen, three of the younger team members, Mike R, Mark T, and Thomas “I don’t like running” L, all reached their 25 mile goal and kept on going to join their teammates, each reaching 50 miles. Both Michael R and Mark T also finished their first ever 5 mile run! Meanwhile, Andy H, who refused to be beaten by the hill leading up to the corner of Baltimore and Broadway, hit 25 miles in May, and is well on the way to the hitting the 50 mile mark in June.

The team was joined by three new residential members in May, with Calvin B and Ian B both hitting the 5 mile mark right away. Calvin has continued running strong and comes out to run with Back on My Feet on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. He has now reached 10 miles, and even on the most difficult of mornings, his irrepressible smile is hard to ignore.
When they weren’t logging miles, the team tried their skills on the volleyball court at Rash Field for our second social event. Thanks so much to Suzanne for organizing!!

The team capitalized on such positive energy at the MCVET Memorial Weekend 5k and 10k races. The energy and excitement was palpable, with Johnny H and Dave M unleashing a string of practical jokes and double entendre, using Mike R and Mark T as suitable targets and worthy comedic peers. Luckily, they didn’t expend all of their energy joking around, and despite the increasingly hot and humid conditions, they helped the team post excellent results. Mark T was the only residential member to run in the 5k,(his first race!) and surprised himself with an amazing time of 21:46! In the 10k, Both Rob and Dave deserve a special mention, with Dave finishing 19th overall and 3rd in his age group, while Rob really turned on the burners as he finished 10th overall and 1st in his age group! Barry B., Johnny H. and Michael R all turned in impressive finishes in their 10k races as well!

In addition to the tremendous results, the team walked away feeling more solidified. Mark T said that the camaraderie he experienced among the Back on My Feet team at the race was amazingly uplifting, and really blew him away. Johnny H added that he could not believe what a difference being part of Back on My Feet has meant to him on a personal level. He never would have believed it before he started running. Running as part of the team has helped him develop meaningful personal relationships with both the residential and non-residential runners at Helping Up that he truly values. I’m sure that the other members would agree that the feeling is mutual.

With a 10 mile run lined up for June and a Boot Camp with Monte Sanders, this month is already shaping up to be just as challenging and just as much fun!

MEMBER OF THE MONTH: DAVID MOEYKENS

Team: THUMB (Team Helping Up Mission Baltimore) Baltimore, MD
Shoe Size: 10
Birthday: June 28, 1974
Hometown: Eldersburg, MD – Carroll County
Accumulated Miles: 80+
Joined Back on My Feet: March 2009
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Quote: “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”

While wandering through a Barnes & Noble one day, Dave happened to glance through a February copy of Runner’s World and saw an article about this running team that had formed in Philly. Little did he know, a month later, he would be part of that same team.

Dave vividly remembers his first day – getting out there and finishing one mile with a single thought in his mind, “I want more!” Since then, Dave has accumulated 80+ miles, won 3rd in his age group and finished 26th overall in the Victim’s Fund Run back in April, and currently holds the second fastest mile time in BOMF Baltimore history. “That race,” Dave describes, “is one of my proudest Back on My Feet moments. Just to walk away with that trophy was really exciting.”

For Dave, running is just one piece of the puzzle. In June, he will celebrate one year of sobriety and his goals are to obtain a welding job in order to earn enough money to go to school and finish his degree in civil engineering. Dave also volunteers his time at the Junction, an alternative sentencing program for juveniles. Since he came to Helping up in November 2008, Dave has been a leader; meeting with 14-17 year olds headed down the same road he traveled, in an effort to prevent them from making the same mistakes. “I messed up my life so bad. I knew who I wanted to be and I fell off. I’m going to get that back. I haven’t had anything to be excited or determined about and now I do.”

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: JEANNE BAYERS

Shoe Size: 7.5
Member Since: March 2009

"There have been so many great moments since we started running in March that it is really hard to pick just one. From the excitement of the first run, to the astonishing times the guys posted in their first timed mile, to the that last, quick kick that they end each and every run with, to the team spirit displayed every time we run. I have been so inspired by and proud of this team, both resident and non-resident members, from day 1. As team organizer, I track the miles that our team logs. After each run I make sure that they get credit for their miles. Recently, we added a few new members. Every time we add new members, it’s like starting all over again and it is exciting to watch their progression. One new member, Calvin B., was running/walking the first few times out; with a huge smile on his face the entire time. After a few weeks, Calvin came up to me at the end of a run to tell me he ran 2 miles. I logged it on my sheet. He looked at me again, with that grin, and said no, I RAN the whole two miles. I did not walk. That moment was it for me. That is what it's about. The progress. The accomplishment. The self-realization that they are indeed moving forward, one step at a time."