Homeless Shelter Running Club

Anne Mahlum shares how she convinced a religious homeless shelter to break their "no women" rule so she could start a running club for the residents.

"I found the director of the shelter online and emailed him. He didn't email me back at first, but I kept badgering him. He tried to think of the nicest way to tell me this wouldn't work - these guys have bigger problems, they're not interested in running.

I was very persuasive and said 'Please just meet me, I've ran by this shelter for 2 years. I'm not very religious even though the shelter was religious, but I am being called to do this.'

He met with me and this shelter, the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, had strict rules that guys weren't supposed to have any contact with women. But Mr. McMillan trusted me and agreed to break the rules. He said he'd ask the shelter members if they were interested in joining a running club.

A couple weeks went by and I finally got a response with 9 names of guys who wanted to run. I got their shoe sizes and went to a local running store to get shoes donated. I got all new shoes because I didn't want to give these guys used shoes just because they were homeless - that would say 'I'm better than you.'

I met them in the chapel for the first time and made them sign a contract saying they had to show up 3 days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday - be on time, come with a positive attitude, and respect their teammates. Everyone sat up straighter in their chairs. They were waiting for someone to tell them they were capable of excellence.

Day one, we all ran a mile together. Some guys cruised through it, but George took a while and was struggling. We made a rule that day that nobody finished alone - everybody went back to get George and brought him to the finish line together. All the media was there covering it. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, ABC, NBC - suddenly this thing was everywhere."