For five residents of a Sacramento rehab center, this Memorial Day represents a personal battle won.

Of 1185 registered participants, five members of the recently formed running and walking program One Step Forward completed their first race as a team this morning at the “No Excuses” 5k run at William Land Park.

The members were recruited just over two months ago from Sacramento’s Clean & Sober program, dedicated to helping disadvantaged people overcome drug and alcoholic addictions. For the past six weeks, One Step Forward trained twice a week in preparation for the race.

One Step Forward was formed by local organizer Makiko Yamashita, who wanted to provide a sense of community, accomplishment and hope to its participants.

Yamashita said 20 to 25 participants initially showed up to One Step Forward’s first meeting. Five of those participants showed up at the race today. Bryan Atkins, Nate Bryant, David Brody, Ray Barraza and Mitchell Brum formed team “Back on Track,” each one a member of Clean & Sober for as little as two to 10 months.

“Every session, [these five] showed up,” Yamashita said.

Along with Yamashita and Clean & Sober volunteer Julie Sharp, the team also had guidance and support from training director Lisa Riley of Fleet Feet Sports in Sacramento. Fleet Feet provided the group with team shirts, and Clean & Sober bought Fleet Feet running shoes for the participants using grant money.

  Atkins noted that Manny Diaz, director of Clean & Sober, also played a large role in their accomplishment.

“We wouldn’t even be here without him,” he said.

In addition to battling addictions, several members struggle with various physical challenges. Bryant is a diabetic and has an irregular heartbeat, and his doctor told him he needed to exercise.

“I decided I want to better myself,” said Bryant, explaining his motives for partaking in the event.

Atkins had medial collateral ligament surgery 10 years ago.

“The hardest part of training is running on bad knees — I have pins in my knees,” he said.

Despite such challenges, the five men indicated a sincere desire to be a part of the event.

“It’s supposed to be something to help us get together as a community," Brody said. "That’s why I wanted to do this."

They also expressed a commitment to finishing the race.

“We’ve been training for this thing for two months," Brum said. "[I] can’t let these people down. Like the race says, ‘no excuses.'"

“I used to run away from commitment,” laughed Atkins, referring to his struggle with kicking a seven-year methamphetamine habit. Today was a different story.

“I feel like I’ve really accomplished something,” he said after finishing the race. The five men equally expressed enthusiasm about their accomplishment, and the group celebrated with an outing to a victory breakfast.

Looking forward, Yamashita is toying with the idea of having the group participate in another race in August, the Race for the Arts.

“If they’re going to keep coming to training, I’ll keep running,” Brody said.

To read more about One Step Forward, see the link below:

One Step Forward

To visit Clean & Sober’s website, click on the following link: 

Clean & Sober