Project Description

I’ll start by saying that I hate running for the most part. I am extremely honored to even be asked to be a part of the Revolution Running team as I know there are so many more deserving runners out there.
I have been married to my wife Jennifer (Jhawk) for 23 years and we have 5 incredible children. My biggest accomplishment is being in a position to have a family and change the legacy of my last name. I was forced to deal with abandonment and many deaths of loved ones throughout most of my childhood. Being born to a single mother who struggled with addiction placed me in some very traumatic situations as a child. I was adopted at 12 and transitioned to a group home with my sister shortly after our mother went to prison. I began to go down the crime route also later in life until I was saved. I share some of that history to say that my childhood has led to some serious issues to deal with as an adult.
All the anger as well as survivors’ guilt, led to long periods of depression, anxiety and more recently, panic attacks. It always seemed that when I would get to a comfortable point with one issue another would always arise in its’ place. I spent my entire life playing basketball and used it as from of self-medication for a long time. Once I got older and my body didn’t allow me to play as much, I let it go along with my health. I didn’t like myself being out of shape and overweight and knew it was not helping my other issues that I had been dealing with for so long. In June of 2023 I made a decision to invest in myself. I had watched running be such a positive source for my wife, Jennifer. Through her, I met so many other amazing people in the running world that have used running to transform their lives. So, I decided to give it a try. Until now, 5k had been my furthest distance due to issues with my calves. Then I started having issues with extreme foot pain and couldn’t make it past 4 miles. I really didn’t have a plan, I just started towards a 10k goal. I began enjoying the pain because I knew it was something for me to fight and get past. I didn’t like the part of me that wanted to quit or give up on things. Running became something that allowed me to find that part of me and beat it. I later ran my first 10k and set my goal to run a half marathon on Thanksgiving day. Before Thanksgiving came, I decided to enter the Stinger 24 hour to test my body on how far I could push myself. I ended up hitting 100k.  Two weeks later I completed my first official half marathon. Running has become very therapeutic for me and I am thankful for all the runners I’ve met along the way that have been so encouraging. The running community is definitely the most loving and supportive environment I’ve ever witnessed.
I have set a goal of running 1,200 miles this year and plan to run my first 100 mile race in September and hopefully finish off the year with 100 miles at Stinger.  I have committed to doing at least one race per month as well.  I’m looking forward to representing the Revolution Running team and being at so many great events with them.