Run for Their Lives

How running club Back on My Feet is helping homeless men reverse their fortunes.

by Kristin Pazulski

FOOT POWER: Back on My Feet volunteer Charis Gehret talks with club member Michael Solomon after a morning run. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

It's 5:30 in the morning on Aug. 1, and the air is already sticky with the humidity that has made this one of the hottest weeks of the summer.

On the corner of 13th and Vine, a few feet from the homeless shelter Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, a group of men in big white T-shirts, baggy shorts and sneakers gathers. It looks like a typical group that'd hang out on a Philly corner — chatting, listening to music, waiting for life to happen.

But it's too early for corner hangouts and the men aren't chatting or cat-calling. They are bending, twisting, touching their toes and stretching their arms into the air, reaching toward a cloudless sky.

And I know this has got to be the crew.

These guys are the runners of Back on My Feet, a group of homeless men who have woken up around 5 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since July 3 to run one to 10 miles each morning.

The group was founded by 26-year-old Anne Mahlum, who grew up in Bismarck, N.D., and has been a runner since she was 16. When she was 22 and living in Washington, D.C., she completed her first marathon and, now living in Center City, she's training for a November marathon in Bangkok, Thailand. Her goal is to run a marathon on every continent before she's 30; she's already completed events in North and South America and Europe.

Mahlum was inspired to start BOMF by the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission group, who would greet her with smiles and "good morning"s as she ran past each day.

Craig Hall, a 55-year-old BOMF runner, said he was never outside to greet Mahlum himself, but he'd see her running by from the window of the shelter and observed the relationship she developed with the guys.

"They formed a camaraderie," said Hall.

The Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission shelters homeless men who have committed themselves to sobering up (if they have a drug or drinking problem), finding a job and acquiring housing. For Mahlum, running is her "best friend," an activity that motivates her, she says. "Running always gives me that same feeling that nothing else ever could."

It's what made her think she could help these men by getting them to run with her. Since they were staying in a shelter, she couldn't just invite them on a run, so in mid-June she met with Dick McMillen, the mission's executive director, with the idea to run with the guys three times a week. A month later, BOMF held its first 5 a.m. run with 10 participants.

"These guys aren't used to accomplishing things, they are just trying to get by," Mahlum says. But by running, they can see how literally putting one foot in front of the other leads to an end. "It helps them hold their head a little higher."

As a runner in charity events and founder of Philadelphia's Dash for Democracy 5K, Mahlum has already used her passion for good. Now she is extending that enthusiasm to the guys who greeted her each morning.

The club started up in the beginning of July with a one-mile run; the original group was up to 10 miles at a time by mid-September. They've run through Rittenhouse Square, across the Ben Franklin Bridge, along the Schuylkill to the Art Museum, and one Sunday took a trip to the Wissahickon's Forbidden Drive. They track their individual miles on a poster board with colored markers.

"It's been refreshing, going places that I've never been in the city and learning about the other runners, learning what makes them tick," says 41-year-old Mike Solomon, one of the original runners.

Solomon, who thought he wouldn't be able to run even two miles in one stint, was the first to run 100 miles overall, which he reached just seven weeks into the program, on Aug. 17. Since then, three other runners — Hall, James Shepherd and Darren Gordon — have also reached the "century mark."

For their achievement, the men received a runner's watch from Philadelphia Runner, a store that specializes in running gear that has been a main sponsor for BOMF, donating new sneakers to each participant. Now Solomon sometimes leads a group of runners, tracking their miles as they run and making sure no one is left behind.

The guys have other incentives for trekking the miles they do — at 250 miles collectively, the group received a basketball net, and once they reached 500 as a group, they earned a television. As of Sept. 24, the runners have logged more than 1,800 total miles. These rewards come from BOMF itself.

They're also training for two races in November — Dash for Democracy on Nov. 3 and Philadelphia Marathon's 13-mile half-marathon on Nov. 18.

But when you meet these guys, it's obvious they don't need incentives like basketball nets and televisions. One of the 100-mile runners, Gordon, 48, says finishing the 5K and marathon are his ultimate reward. "I don't know what position I'll come in at, but I want to run it and complete it."

Hall says that when he started the club, one of his goals was to run five miles at once. Now he's up to 10 miles on their longer weekend runs, despite missing two sessions after injuring his calf. But even on the mornings he couldn't run, Hall was outside the shelter in the early morning, welcoming back the runners and tracking their progress on the chart — illustrating that the club isn't just about reaching a certain mileage. These guys are learning teamwork, dedication and social interaction, Mahlum explains.

The guys who run in BOMF must be part of their shelter's recovery program and be sober for 30 days. When they job-hunt, the runners can use the club involvement to show potential employers their commitment and energy. "They can even use me as a reference," Mahlum said.

Despite the short existence of the club, it's already received attention from most of Philly's print, radio and television media, and Mahlum estimates that about a dozen volunteers have joined with her. [Full disclosure: After reporting this story, the author began volunteering for the organization.] She's always looking for runners who want to help lead additional groups, since in the next few months, she hopes to expand the club.

Already, three other shelters have contacted her with interest in starting their own Back on My Feet clubs. On Wednesday, Sept. 26, a new group of eight guys from St. John's Hospice on Race Street joined Mahlum on their first one-mile run.

"I didn't know what to expect, but you can't pick the moments that change your life," said Mahlum, who turned down a full-time job at the beginning of this month to dedicate herself to the growing club. "Running with these guys quickly became the absolute best part of my day."

(k_pazulski@citypaper.net)

Back on My Feet will be the beneficiary of the Crazy Legz Running Relay, Sat., Sept. 29, 5:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Evansburg State Park, Collegeville. The first Mugshots five-mile run, a noncompetitve run from the café along Kelly Drive and back, Sat., Oct. 13, with registration at 7:30 a.m. and starting at 8:30 a.m. at 110 Cotton Street in Manyunk, will also benefit BOMF.  For more information or to donate, visit www.backonmyfeet.org. Donations of shirts and shorts can be dropped off at Philadelphia Runner, 1601 Sansom St.