A Nashville man is preparing for an ambitious ultra-marathon. In fact, it’s a 100-mile marathon, which makes it extremely ambitious. The man says this ambition is all due to a chance meeting that happened four years ago at the Nashville International Airport.
The man, named Stan, said a group of people could clearly see he’d been drinking too much.
So they came over and introduced themselves; said they’d all gone through the Still Waters program. That happens to be a substance abuse treatment center on the campus of Cumberland Heights.
“I don’t think it was much of coincidence to be honest with you,” Stan said. “I’m a big God guy, especially after this experience here.”
So Stan decided to join them. It completely changed his life.
“Alcoholism, I struggled with that my whole life,” Stan said. “I couldn’t accomplish anything in life. I couldn’t stay sober for more than six to nine months at a time.”
Now he’s been sober for four full years.
Why did it work this time?
“If I had to answer that question, I don’t know. I have this intuitive thought that for us there’s a time and a place for us to get this,” Stan said.
Stan’s more than simply sober though. He’s also the driving force behind The Final Chance Project, a non-profit which raises money for scholarships to help others attend Still Waters.
He’ll be fundraising in August when he runs the iconic 100-mile marathon in Colorado, the Leadville Trail 100.
“I love the natural setting,” Stan said before taking off on a run. “Out in the woods and up in the mountains, there’s just no better place for me.”
Stan said he’s been training for about 15 hours a week, on his way to 20 hours a week.
“I never ran a day of my life before getting sober,” he said. “This is all stuff that came with sobriety.”
Stan hopes to help others change their lives in the same way. If it takes running a 100-mile marathon, so be it. After all, the running helps him too.
“That’s something I love about running, linked to sobriety,” he said. “If you put the work in, you get better. You’re going to progress. I think anyone who wants to get sober deserves a fighting chance.”
Healing Properties salutes Stan and his ambitious endeavor; it’s rare for someone to run for someone else; let alone run 100 miles. But he and his heart are in it to win it for those who need it. What a guy!