WATERTOWN — The annual Run for Recovery, benefitting the Urban Mission Bridge Program, will return to the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds Sept. 10.
The Bridge Program helps people with substance use disorders by providing treatment options and case management. Clients are sent to the Bridge Program by a court or treatment program to help them restore and rebuild their lives.
Anthony Matthews, director of the program, said Bridge is an ATI program, which stands for Alternative to Incarceration, and serves the same purpose as probation. The difference is that the program is substance use-focused. People in the program either have a history of substance use or their conviction is associated with their addiction.
Mr. Matthews has been with the program since the end of 2016, and has been with the mission since 2012. He’s had a hand in all the runs since he started with the mission, but said the event has really become his “baby” over the past few years.
“The biggest thing that we want to do is we want to make sure that we bring awareness to how addiction is affecting our community,” Mr. Matthews said. “We want to remember the individuals who have lost their lives to addiction and we want to celebrate people who have found sobriety, so it’s a mixed bag that day, but it’s a really good day.”
The event, which begins at 9 a.m. with check-in starting at 7 a.m., will again include 5K and 10K runs and a 5K walk. Early registration is $25 and same-day registration will be $30. The runs will be professionally timed with prizes in various categories.
Those who register for the event by Aug. 27 will receive a free T-shirt. Teams are also welcome, with a maximum of six participants per team. Online registration can be found at wdt.me/RecoveryRun22.
Mr. Matthews said participation over the past couple of years has been around 350 to 400 people.
“I would like to put a call out to anyone looking for a sponsorship opportunity that they can contact us and we’ll provide them with the information that they need,” Mr. Matthews said. “We have different levels of sponsorship. One of them gets their name on the back of the T-shirts that we will be wearing and one level gets their logo on there.”
Those interested in sponsoring the event and having their organization or company on the back of the race shirts should reach out by mid-August. Those just wishing to be a sponsor can get involved at any time up to the day of the race, or even after, Mr. Matthews said.
For racers, registration is open online until the Sunday before the race or in person on race day. T-shirt pickup will be the Thursday prior to the event.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.