Leading by Example: How Running Transformed My Life and Inspired My Kids
My name is Benny Aguilera and my sobriety journey started March 21, 2021. After almost 20 years of fooling myself into thinking I didn't have a problem with alcohol, even when I used to wake up on the weekends and go straight to the garage and take a shot of whiskey out of my secret bottle, I never saw a problem.
On March 21st, 2021, I hit my rock bottom and got kicked out of my own house. That was the last time I drank and that night eventually led to my divorce. That lonely night in the hotel room I had a choice to make, I could continue to drink and possibly lose my kids or get myself together and be there for them, and be the best dad I could be.
I used to run during my drinking days to try and fool myself and other people that I didn't have a drinking problem, but once I stopped drinking I went all in on running. I ran my 1st ultra marathon in my 1st year into sobriety, and I got hooked on trail running.
Just being out in nature and doing the thing I loved made me feel so free. One day I posted a run on a FB running page and I mentioned my sobriety in the post, and that's when Amber commented on my run and told me about Recovery Road Runners. That same day I joined the Recovery Road Runners page. It was awesome finding a page of like-minded individuals who understood what it was like to be in recovery and also loved to run.
I was a member of the page for around a year and interacted with everyone and got to know Amber, the founder of the page. It was amazing to see the leaps she was making to try and help people who were in recovery, and people who just started their journey. It was the day she messaged me and told me she was able to get a bib to the Pikes Peak Ascent and asked if I was ready to run it.
At 1st the thought scared the living crap out of me, but deep down I was all in. After a couple of days I told her I was ready to be a part of this amazing opportunity. So from that day forward I started running more and started running up. luckily i'm not too far away from Fort Collins so i was hitting trails every weekend and trying to get as much vert in as possible. my goal was to basically run, and run up as much as possible. If I saw a hill I was going to run up it. I was able to train for about 3 months before the big day.
I showed up to Colorado Springs the day before the Ascent and headed to Manitou Springs. I got to hang out at the expo and listen to the amazing athletes talk about the Ascent and the training they went through. The whole time I was there I couldn't stop looking at Pikes Peak and thinking to myself if I got enough training in. I kept telling myself to trust the process.
When Saturday rolled around I got my pack ready and headed to the starting line. I was in wave 16 so I got to see all the other athletes ahead of me take off and hit the trail, then my wave was up and I was off. My mom, aunt and kids watched me leave the starting line to take on the hardest run of my life. It was such an amazing experience running up a 14er with 100s and 100s of other people on their own journey.
I was doing great till around mile 9.5 and then I started to cramp, but nothing was going to stop me from making it to the top so I kept putting one foot in front of the other, and kept climbing. I was able to finish in 5:00:04, and the first thing I did to celebrate was to get some world famous donuts.
The whole experience was great. I met some friends along the way and I learned a lot about myself. I would have never thought in my drinking days that this would be something I could accomplish. Other than showing myself I was able to do something like this, I was able to show my kids that the sky's the limit and they can do anything they want in this life. That feeling warms my heart so much, and knowing my kids are watching keeps me sober and keeps me going to be the best I can be.
Thank you Amber for creating Recovery Road Runners and thank you Jordan for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the Pikes Peak Ascent..
Sincerely,
Benny Aguilera