Meet the man who started a Philadelphia run club to help people in recovery
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Running was never part of Kellen Matthews' master plan but each mile he's run since leaving a recovery program seven years ago has given him a new high for life without addiction.
"My goal for 2024 is to run one marathon a month," Matthews said.
Matthews believes he's run nearly 3,000 miles this year alone. He found his passion for running in recovery.
"I was in such a dark place that I would have never imagined that I'd be in a position where I could at any given moment go out the front door and run a marathon," Matthews said.
That dark place began in his teens when he became addicted to opioids after the death of his father and uncle. At 26-years-old, he planned to take his life.
"I found myself standing at the end of a bridge figuring it was a better idea to take my life rather than try to overcome being an addict and getting into recovery," Matthews said.
Thankfully, his now-wife, Cass, called him.
"Things were just not adding up," Cass Matthews said. "His behaviors were not normal and I had a feeling that there was something deeper than what he was letting on."
Together, Kellen and Cass Matthews developed a plan to get him into a recovery center. During his time in recovery, a physician recommended running as a healthy alternative to addictions.
"It gets the brain to release some feel-good endorphins and ever since then it was very addicting that's for sure," Kellen Matthews said.
Kellen Matthews is now in his 30s and has run several marathons and 100-mile ultra-marathons. Earlier this year, he founded the Recovery Run Club as a way for others to run toward recovery together.
"Normally we will go around the circle at the beginning of run club and we introduce ourselves and tell everybody why we run," Kellen Matthews said. "This last weekend it was Overdose Awareness Day."
The club runs once a month and is a place for anyone in a recovery space and battling any form of addiction.
"Recovery is possible. It's literally never too late to surrender to your disease and make a new life for yourself," Kellen Matthews said. "For me, recovery is just the act of getting better each day. So like my goal is to win the day."
"Recovery looks different for everybody," Cass Matthews said. "It does take a village and maybe you don't find that village in the typical AA or NA."
Cass Matthews said the club is an opportunity for even loved ones of those battling addiction.
"Not only does the person who's suffering from addiction need community but you need community," Cass Matthews said.