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Recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is a marathon, not a sprint. For Izzy Alvarado, a runner with seven years of sobriety under his belt, it’s an actual marathon, too. He’s run 17 of them, so far.
“Running was a great way to replicate that feeling that I needed, that runner’s high,” Alvarado says. “I started running, and the next thing you know, I fell in love with it.”
He started sharing about his passion for running in his recovery meetings. In 2019, a staffer from a nearby treatment center heard and asked if Alvarado would be willing to take 10 patients out for a group run.
Those are the humble beginnings of Go the Distance, an organization that has grown into a registered nonprofit with a team of 12 employees and bright new offices in Old Town. GTD has now served more than 1,100 runners from seven area treatment centers. But participants don’t have to be endurance athletes—folks have come to walk for an hour, or with wheelchairs or walkers.
“We just want to promote movement,” Alvarado says.
After 12 runs, participants get an award package with a backpack, new On shoes, socks and a medal. Then, they can join the weekly alumni runs to stay active and connected to their sobriety community. GTD hosted its first fundraising 5k race in September at Fernhill Park in Northeast Portland, with 260 participants, Alvarado says.
As the program continues to grow, GTD is recruiting volunteers to help lead group runs.
“We’re up to 28 runs a week, and that’s a lot of runs for us to facilitate,” says Connor Stephens, GTD’s program director. (He had already run twice the day of the interview.) “If we can get volunteers to help us facilitate those runs, then we can expand even more. They don’t have to be in recovery—we need allies too.”