Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 43

ROAD RUNNING
Running Recovery
from Addiction
The Recovery Foundation Athletics Club in Gauteng is slowly helping to
change perceptions of substance abuse and addiction, thanks to the efforts
of club manager Roberto Ferreira and the enthusiastic running of its
members. It helps greatly that he is a recovered addict himself, and saw first-
hand how exercise can help one recover from addiction. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER
T
here’s a new running club in Pretoria that has a slightly different reason for
being. For these runners, it’s not just about fitness and running times, it’s
about recovery and healing, and staying on the right road. You see, the
Recovery Foundation Athletics Club was established in December 2018 under the
auspices of The Recovery Foundation, a non-profit organisation (NPO) that looks to
raise funds and create awareness of substance addiction, in order to help people
who do not have the financial means or medical aid to pay for their recovery. that the idea of creating a sport club emerged. “I was an addict for just nigh on
five years of my life, and I found that exercise really helped me to get over my
addictions... and I mean over! I did not start with running straight away, but played
soccer and went cycling. Then I started running. Exercise gave me purpose and
direction, which is why we decided to create both a cycling club and running club
in November-December last year. I so strongly believe in this club.”
The club is the initiative of Roberto Ferreira, a 35-year-old former addict of both
alcohol and drugs, who now works as manager of the NPO, and also manages
the Trust in Hope Recovery House, a halfway house for recovering addicts. He
has been rehabilitated for eight years, and once over his own addiction, Roberto
threw himself into helping those who were in a similar situation. As a former
addict himself, he understands all too well what these recovering addicts are
experiencing, and he says he works hard to emphasise their humanity instead of
their addiction. “We are human beings first. We are people before we are addicts,
or recovered addicts. I am very passionate about getting this message across.” At present the running club has some 40 members, of which 90% are either
addicts or former addicts, with the rest of the membership made up of people who
have family members who are battling substance addiction. “We have only been
around for about six months, so we are quite happy with the growth of the club,”
says Roberto.
He says that it was through the NPO and his own journey of using sport and
exercise as part of his treatment to overcome substance abuse and addiction,
Healing with Running
“The club was created to provide a home for people who are either battling or have
battled substance addiction, a place where they can get together and get their
health back. Our first race was the George Claasen event in Pretoria in January
this year, and we had members running in the 5km, 10km and half marathon. Since
then we have been at a race once a month, and we alternate between attending
races in Pretoria or Johannesburg.”
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