“Ready. Set. Goal!”
If you would have told Dannon a year ago, that he would be running marathons and participating in triathlon events, it would probably have provoked a chuckle or even an eye-roll.
Dannon entered the City Rescue Mission’s LifeBuilders program after serving time in jail for crimes he committed to feed and fund his drug addiction. Once he was released, he decided he didn’t want to return to the life he was living because he knew there was more to life and he wanted to find it. This wasn’t the first time Dannon had tried a recovery program, “I have been in and out of programs before, but never I never stayed sober for more than a year.” He soon realized that CRM was different. “I never had a program like this where you can just forget about everything and focus on what’s important. CRM takes care of everything and you don’t have to worry about anything. You get to truly focus on yourself, connect with God and find out what he’s got planned for you. It’s a true blessing.”
When Dannon was going through the LifeBuilders program at the New Life Inn campus, he knew he needed something to help him keep focused. “Never did I think that I would be running marathons and triathlons, but I needed to refocus my energy. I knew that if I took all that energy that I used to use to get my drugs and focus it on something else, I could really start doing something. So, I started running and working out. I started to set goals for myself.”
After graduating the LifeBuilders program in the Fall of 2019, Dannon has continued to set goals and embraced his new path and passion. He has surrounded himself with healthy relationships, found a “workout” family at a local Christian-based Crossfit gym, started a great job, and recently completed the 70.3Mile Triathlon at Florida Ironman in Daytona, Florida. In all of his success, he first and foremost continues to give the credit to God, “the first thing I do in the morning is hit my knees and pray. God gives me the strength to get through my day. When I am running, I have an overwhelming feeling come over me throughout the race. It’s a very emotional feeling. It’s the presence of God and I feel that when I am doing these races. It is an overwhelming, joyous feeling that God is with me and has pulled me out of that darkness to show me what I can do.”
Dannon looks forward to completing his future goals, which include the Gate River Run and completing the Full Ironman in 2021. He is a true example of hope for others, “CRM is a blessing. I wish I could tell all these guys not to worry about what you’re going to do when you graduate. It is all going to fall in place if you put God first. He has a path for all of us, we just have to listen to him.”
