Chris Sears has been struggling to get his life back on track after seeing it spiral out of control over the past five years in a devastating scourge of hypodermic needles and unforgiving cocaine.
So when the 23-year-old Sears joins the more than 7,000 other runners this morning for the 11th Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon, the former Whitman-Hanson cross country and track standout will have taken a huge step in his battle against his addiction.
The enormously popular race boasts a deep, world-class field and a scenic out-and-back course that splashes autumn’s brilliant colors along the Jamaicaway and other rolling roads that make up the Emerald Necklace.
Sears has used running and the goals he has set for himself as a major tool in his recovery and an outlet to put his personal demons behind him.
“It’s been five years since I’ve been caught up in my addiction and laziness,” said Sears, who excelled in the hurdles at Whitman-Hanson. “Running gives me goals I can work to achieve. I just want to finish it. It’s my first real long race. I’m not looking for any specific time.
“Running helps me clear my head. It helps me be in tune with my thoughts. It helps me stay clear mentally. I’m staying busy. An idle mind is the devil’s playground.”
Sears credits the Bulldog Running Club out of hopeFound in Jamaica Plain for the brighter days he has experienced and the ones, he hopes, to come. A homeless shelter and treatment center run out of the Shattuck Hospital, hopeFound is for people battling addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Mike Ferullo, a hopeFound volunteer and running club founder, has been meeting with the group’s 30-40 runners every Saturday morning at Franklin Park since its inception in 2008. From there, the members run 6-10 miles through the park and along the tree-lined Jamaicaway.
The running club, Ferullo said, offers a more positive outlet for those in recovery and helps them steer clear of drugs and alcohol.
“It’s been a positive thing for the residents and the guys in the program,” he said. “Running is a no-brainer because it addresses so many levels in a positive way. The guys are helping themselves. To get that feeling of being fit feels good. They go out for a run instead of using (drugs or alcohol).”
No matter how today’s 13.1-mile race ends up, when Sears enters White Stadium and circles the track to the finish, it will have been a giant step in what he hopes will culminate next April when he competes in the 2012 Boston Marathon.
Sears credits Ferullo for getting him excited about running again and traversing the paths of Franklin Park and the surrounding area. Sears has always preferred training in rural settings, much as he did in high school when he trained on the trails alongside the tranquil Indian Head River, which runs through the South Shore towns of Hanson and Hanover.
“He’s been a big influence,” Sears said of Ferullo. “He gives me a lot of insight into life itself. Mike’s taught me about discipline. I obviously have a passion about running and he’s rekindled it."
