NEWS
New program brings community members, recovering addicts together to overcome drug addiction
“It’s the team approach that seems to be working the best. It’s the service, it’s the team unity. It bonds the team together,” Robinson said
James Johnson is very open and honest about his past. He’ll tell you about the day he missed his daughter’s birth because he had been strung out on methamphetamine. He’ll tell you about the night he committed a home invasion to steal drugs and money from drug dealers, which lead to his arrest and ultimately a 7 year prison sentence at the Utah State Penitentiary. He’ll also tell you how his release from prison in January 2019 felt more like a continued sentence than freedom.
“I still felt like I was in prison. I was really struggling, I was alone. I just felt like [home] was a nicer prison,” Johnson said. Committed to leave the drug life behind, Johnson starting running and working out, posting videos on social media to reach out to others because he knew he needed that support too. That’s when Blu Robinson reached out to him. Read entire article
On the Radio
Coach Johnson and Athlete Goddard were live on air yesterday as they were interviewed on channel 104.5 FM on Basin Now Radio in the Community Outreach Programming. They did great sharing about what the program and the team have done for them as well as the growth for the new Uintah Basin Chapter.
Listen HERE
Team AIIA Is Growing
We are excited to announce a new chapter of Addict to Athlete being launched in Vernal, Utah. This will be our first chapter in the Uintah Basin. AIIA will have a kick-off presentation on August 24th, 2019 where we will introduce the community, the judicial and law-enforcement organizations to the team. Soon after this presentation locations for the meeting, times and dates will be scheduled so that anyone who wishes to participate will be able.
Coach Blu said, “It’s always exciting to have another chapter of Addict II Athlete open. It boggles my mind how strong these community resources can become. The team support and team unity becomes like a second family too many people in recovery and to so many others who have a loved one struggling with addiction”.
Everyone is welcome. Whether you are struggling with an addiction, in a therapeutic treatment program or if you are the parent friend or loved one of an individual struggling with addiction of any kind, you are more than welcome to attend our meetings. Find out more about the weekly meetings or by contacting Coach James Johnson 435-724-7733
Overdose Awareness
On August 31st Team Addict II Athlete will again participate in the 2019 Overdose Awareness Day. The team will participate in a relay style running event set to the milage that reflects the current overdose rate in the state Utah. “We have developed a new running course and will carry a message to the the state capital that more needs to be done to fight this problem” Coach Jed Jensen explained to the Utah County Chapter of Addict II Athlete.
Anyone wanting to join the AIIA on this run can find the map and relay times to run with the athletes or cheer them during this event. We also welcome you to the state capital where you can be a part of the overdose awareness presentation on Aug. 31st starting at 6pm.
Learn more about Overdose Awareness Utah
Two Families Find Healing From Addiction Through Marathon Racing
Russell Hutchings, Don Hutchings, and Emma Robison
SALT LAKE CITY – 41-year-old Don Hutchings and seven-year-old Emma Robison have one thing in common. They have both overcome a drug addiction, but their journeys could not be more different.
Emma only weighed 2 pounds 2 ounces when she was born. Freyja Robison and her husband adopted Emma at birth.
Her birth mother was addicted to opioids — so addicted that even becoming pregnant couldn’t stop her from using them.
Emma was exposed to the drugs in utero, significantly altering her development.
“She is non-verbal, she is legally deaf, and she is legally blind,” Freyja Robison described. “She loves to play with sensory toys that light up and play music. Music is her language.”
Three weeks after birth, Emma’s system was finally drug free. Around the same time, Hutchings was also reaching his own sobriety.
“I’ve struggled with a lifetime of addiction. It started at age 12 sneaking beers out of my grandparents’ fridges,” Hutchings explained.
After his father went to prison, Hutchings fell into a deep depression and started to self-medicated with methamphetamines.
“If I didn’t have my substance, I laid in bed and shook and slept until I got my phone call,” Hutchings described.
He was pouring $350 into the addiction daily. Sitting in jail time after time finally triggered a change.
One day Hutchings was sitting in jail with a bunch of 18-year-olds comparing charges and he thought, “Is this what my life has come to?”
Hutchings’ and Emma’s lives crossed paths when he volunteered with a group called Addict to Athlete. It’s a program designed to help people battling addiction by training for and racing in marathons.
Hutchings initially went just to meet his probation requirements.
“I went purely out of greed. I wanted to sign off community services hours,” he admitted.
But it didn’t take much to change his heart.
“There was an energy about the team. You could just feel it!” he said.
Hutchings soon fell in love with little Emma. They became racing partners in mainstream marathons. Hutchings pushes Emma in a specially designed racing stroller during each race.
“When Emma sees it she just lights up… and giggles and bounces and squeals. It is the best thing for her!” Freyja Robison said.
The program’s director Coach Blu Robinson said running marathons is a lot like the journey of recovery.
“It sucks, it’s hard, but when you’re done feel good,” he said.
As an addiction counselor, he found running alongside his athletes to be the most effective form of therapy.
He said, “They’d tell me more outside on a training run than they even did in my office.”
Robinson said running offered a new meaning for their lives.
“To allow them to erase the addiction and replace it with things of greater value,” he explained.
Running together has brought healing to two families each suffering from the bonds of addiction.
Hutchings’ wife, Brooke Hutchings, lived through the highs and lows of his addiction and recovery.
“It’s not just the addict that suffers. It’s the family too,” she said. “I never thought we’d make it!”
Brooke Hutchings also volunteers with the team. She said the program has saved their family.
“We have a whole community that surrounds us and we all recover with him together,” she described.
Hutchings said the relationships he has developed on the Addict to Athlete team helped fill a void he experienced while he was addicted.
“It gives me my connection with people who are like minded. People who are on the same journey,” he said.
Hutchings’ 11-year-old son, Russell Hutchings, cherishes the time he is able to spend with his dad today.
“Why I run is now I can spend time with him because back then I couldn’t,” he explained.
Freyja Robison said becoming friends with Hutchings and his family has helped understand how hard it was for Emma’s birth mother to quit. Freyja Robison said she forgives her.
“I didn’t understand that until I got to know people who have really been through the battle and come out the other side,” she described.
Hutchings’ service enables Emma to move in ways she otherwise could not.
“Racing gives her the ability to be free!” she said.
The bond Emma and Hutchings share is extremely special and unique.
“Even though she has trouble seeing and hearing, she knows when I’m there. She can feel me,” Hutchings said.
Frejya Robison believes Hutchings presence comes from a higher power—“an angel in human form!” she said.
In October, the Addict to Athlete team is flying to Washington D.C. to support Hutchings and Emma who are running in the Marine Corps Marathon.
The organization has more than 2,000 athletes in Utah and welcomes anyone touched by addiction.
Watch Story HERE
Addicts turned athletes rally to help drug-addicted girl
“A few years ago, a friend whose son was wheelchair-bound told her about a group of runners who made it possible for special-needs children to participate in races by pushing them in strollers or wheelchairs. That group was Addict II Athlete, and it turned out to be just the kind of extended family the Robisons needed.” Read more HERE
A New Method of Recovery
“I didn’t want people to erase their original addiction and replace it with exercise addiction. I really wanted there to be a healthy balance.” Robinson said.
Read HERE