For too many years, Kathryn Schmucker says she has been running away — escaping from the trauma in her life by using drugs to cope with life’s hardships.
But not anymore.
Today, Schmucker, 40, is lacing up her running shoes and racing toward a brighter future. On Saturday, April 23, Schmucker will stand at the starting line of the Monument Avenue 10K with an expected 20,000 race participants. She is training for the race along with nearly 30 other recovery program participants, 19 men and 10 women, from The Healing Place, a free, long-term, peer-driven residential recovery program of CARITAS.
“This is a life-changing experience,” Schmucker says. “I did not know how to live life before, but I do now.” Like the other runners, her goal is to reach the finish line. But the race means so much than that to her — it’s a new beginning.
Schumucker, who was using drugs to numb the challenges in her life, spent time in jail from August through November 2021. She says the experience saved her, because it’s where she found out about The Healing Place, which added a women’s recovery program in December 2020.
It’s where running is seen as one way to heal a person’s addiction and propel them forward on a more positive path. For the past 10 years, volunteer coach Sara Sitkiewicz has led a training group of Healing Place runners for 10 weeks as they prepare for the Monument Avenue 10K.
Volunteer coach Sara Sitkiewicz runs with Donnell Perkins, a participant in The Healing Place’s 10K training program. (Photo by Jay Paul)
They meet for weekly group runs at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays, and although it is early, the group is energetic. Their route varies each week, but mostly it takes the group through surrounding neighborhoods, including Manchester, and along the James River. Starting with 1 mile for the first run, the routes get progressively longer each week so that the participants can complete the 10K distance (6.2 miles) by race day.
“My passion is helping people,” says Sitkiewicz, a mother of two young children, whose husband, Greg, has also been a volunteer coach with this group.
The Healing Place’s 10K training program started in 2012, when a former CARITAS board member, Stevie McFadden, wanted to share the joy she found in running. When a volunteer was needed to keep the program going, Sitkiewicz stepped up and has been coming back ever since.
“I couldn’t see this team not happen anymore,” she says. “There were too many good things happening.”
Though Sitkiewicz has no connection to addiction in her personal life, she says she volunteers because she believes we are here to help others.
More than 20 volunteer running coaches support Sitkiewicz and The Healing Place participants; Sitkiewicz often calls her colleagues “cheerleaders” because of their positive energy as they encourage participants and help them accomplish their goals.
“They don’t have to give of their time, but they do,” Schmucker says of the coaches, “and that’s a beautiful thing."
Women are participating in The Healing Place’s 10K training team for the first time this year. More than 100 men have gone through the program previously, and “one of the really cool things is some of the men that ran as a participant have come back, and now they are coaches,” Sitkiewicz says. This year, about nine of the volunteer coaches are alumni of The Healing Place.
Kathryn Schmucker (Photo by Ashley Loth, Sound Snap Photography)
Schmucker says the training team has made a profound impact on her life. “I don’t think I’ve finished anything except high school in a long time,” she says. “It’s not always easy, but you feel good accomplishing the goal.”
Running also has inspired her to pursue other dreams. “I’ve been saying I want to go back to school,” she says. “This makes that goal more realistic for me. If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.”
Schmucker says she can already envision how she’ll feel at the finish line on race day. “It’s going to be exhilarating,” she says. “I’m hopeful for the future because I was able to stick to something and see it through to set a goal, commit and follow through.”
The nonprofit Shood and running shop Fleet Feet provide donated running shoes for training team participants. Sports Backers sponsors the program participants’ 10K entry fees.
The transformation of the participants is inspiring, says Anna Murphy, CARITAS Family Resource Coordinator and a volunteer 10K Training Coach. “Individuals show up tired and unsure, but willing,” she says. “Although the path is not without struggle and feelings of doubt, it ultimately yields incredible accomplishments.
“It's a space where we see faith at work and can encourage us all towards strength and courage to continue running our race with perseverance.”
As she adds miles to her training schedule, Schmucker is filled with hope. “I’m super grateful for this experience,” she says. “I’m not a runner, but I’m going to change that by starting to run. I’m going to heal myself inside and out.”
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