Carrying The Message

2012—-For quite some time we have felt Addict II Athlete should host a race of their own to promote recovery. The activity board felt a 5k would be the best idea and the upcoming Recovery Month in September would be the best time to hold it. I wanted to use this event to be more than just a race; I wanted our Athletes to get involved. Instead of simply submitting the paperwork to the city, we met with the Substance Prevention Team and picked a city in our County. Discovering the City of Highland had a large number of overdose deaths we selected them to host our event. I had a thought. I would ask the Athletes to address Highland City Council to educate them and hopefully get their support. This is not often the case when seeking a race permit but again this was going to be bigger than a regular race. Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 Josh, Cody and Wade attended the City meeting and the outcome was more than we could have expected.

Josh’s statement to the City Council:
First let me express my gratitude for the opportunity to address this council on something that has had a profound impact on me. My name is Josh Foster, and I stand in proxy for members of Addict II Athlete. We are a group of friends, peers and family members who all have one thing in common…addiction. By knowing an addict, having been affected by addiction or being in recovery ourselves. We have come together to help one another produce a better outcome, free from addiction. We have found a new way of life, by exercising and becoming physically fit. This has become a pivot point in our new way of life. We are here to carry the message of recovery and change the outlook of the word… addict. To show that there is hope for every individual affected by addiction out there. We have adopted the philosophy of Erase and Replace, defined as; erasing our addiction and replacing it with something of greater value (ie. friendship, family, respect and compassion). Our goal is to spread the message of recovery to the addict and family of the addict who still struggle with addiction and to show that we have discovered a more excellent way to live. We wish to redefine the public’s view on addiction and recovery.
Addict II Athlete is here tonight to request and inform the citizens of Highland concerning the 2012, Utah County recovery week to be held September 8th, 2012 at the Health and Justice Building in Provo Utah. On that day, we would like to hold the first annual AIIA 5k Recovery Run. Its purpose to bring awareness and action to an epidemic of great proportion. Statistically speaking, we have chose Highland Utah as a host city because of a large number of overdose deaths. This is a community whom we feel could greatly benefit from seeing what kind of help, support and outreach is available. As well as an opportunity to educate and produce a better outcome for the citizens of Highland and the residents of Utah County.
We are proposing the 5K race begin and finish at Lone Peak High School, following a predetermined route that includes public streets and trail systems and looping back to finish where the race begins. We are prepared to submit race permits and abide by any requirements, financial obligations and promotion Highland City would require. Again I would like to thank you citizens of Highland and this counsel for allowing us the time to share with you and your community something very passionate to us. We will remain present after this meeting to answer or discuss any questions you may have.
Thank you.

Josh’s personal account about this experience:
Having been blessed to be a part of such an amazing group, and being very passionate about recovery, I was given a great opportunity to present our First Annual AIIA 5k Run to the Highland City Council. Being able to stand up, proud of who I am and what I was presenting was a great experience. Being able to see the look on the Mayor and his council members faces when they heard and felt the message of Addict II Athlete, what we are all about, and what we are doing in our community was nothing less than exceptional. I love the thought of knowing that along with local law enforcement we are here to help battle and shake addiction to the very core. To be able to stand up there and share with them our message of hope, love, strength, courage, and passion about overcoming addiction, and to have them welcome us with excitement and open arms was very gratifying. To see the relief on their faces when they got the message and knew that there is a group of proactive individuals out there that are fighting back reassured them that the troops are coming to join them in taking back their community. It was exciting for them to jump on board with us and offer their help in promoting our run and our group in any way possible, and to hear their thanks in deep gratitude. It was a very humbling experience that I’m truly grateful for, and have been blessed with the opportunity to get our message out to a community that is in such need of help from a group of friends, family and people that are so willing to show up at any means necessary to help in this great cause. Our mission is to put addiction and recovery in the front of everyone’s mind and to take it into the homes of every family that is being effected by it. This is a great testament of how powerful our group and AIIA is and how big of an impact we are making. There is nothing better than giving back to this community and leaving such a positive influence on the minds of the people that are being touched by it.