A few blogs back, you may recall reading about Back on my Feet, a non-profit organization promoting self-sufficiency in homeless populations, and the tri-fold brochure we volunteered to design. The project was an opportunity for us to give back to the community and support a group whose mission we value. Expecting nothing but warm and fuzzies in return, it came as a wonderful surprise, when Simone, our contact at Back on my Feet Atlanta, presented us with two free race registrations for their first annual Meaningful Miles road race and our logo on the back of the race t-shirt.

The race, a 5k with one mile honoring each of the three core running groups, took place around the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta. Since Karen and I were lacing up our shoes for the event, we decided Courtney, our new art director had to join in the fun as well, making it our first R&R outing together (outside of lunches and BBQs of course). Decked out in our R&R t-shirts (you know, the ones that we’ve gifted to many of you this past year) and sharing the sidewalk with our #1 fan, AtlantaBen, we started the morning with a BOMF circle up. A circle up is the morning ritual where resident and volunteer members gather around for a little calisthenics, a little faith and a lot of camaraderie. After the circle up (the largest in Atlanta history!), we got on our marks and were off and running. Karen, being the running machine that she is, smoked the rest of us, crossing the finish line in 21:24 minutes. Courtney and I came in later – we weren’t last, but let’s just say Karen had a few minutes (or 10) on us.

The race was a great chance to see the benefits of the organization in action. In fact, each of us had a chance to pace with a man proudly wearing a BOMF shirt denoting the total number of miles he/she has completed in the program. From 25 to more than 100 miles, it’s obvious that in Atlanta, many members are making strides. Congratulations to Back on my Feet on this successful inaugural race and we look forward to crossing the finish line with you all next year!