Hicky and Harris toe the line for a higher power

BY LAURIE GORDON
Dave Hickey, of Stanhope, and Ann Marie Harris, of Andover, will be running in this Sunday's New York City Marathon. They're running it for themselves and all the challenges of training and goal setting to complete a marathon, but they're also running it for a higher power: their faith.

Hickey and Harris are part of an increasingly popular running program called Run for God. It began in January 2010 as a Bible study that paralleled faith and endurance. The program's goal was to take those who had never run to their first 5K while teaching them to relate the great sport of running to their "walk with Jesus Christ." Since then, Run for God has expanded its reach to the10K/Half Marathon Challenge; and, in the case of these two runners, the marathon.

Hickey is not a lifelong runner. Now 52, his running days started when he was 45. He realized he was way overweight and implemented a wellness program at the company he was running at the time. “The company formed its own rendition of The Biggest Loser and Weight Watchers came in,” Hickey said. That was 2008 and also the same year he took his first run. His daughter, Anna (now 22) was in track and field at her high school. “I did my first run with her when I weighed 250 pounds,” he recalls. A lot has changed since then.

“I fell in love with running, “Hickey said, “I just kept doing it, and in nine months I lost 60 pounds and ran my first half marathon.” He became involved with a charity called Team Hope for the Warriors which gained him entry into the New York City Marathon and has raised over $20,000 for the cause. Hickey did another NYC Marathon, along with the Marine Corps Marathon, and was avid about anything related to the sport.

Apparently Google figured this out, “Somehow coupling my searches of running related things and my faith, up popped an ad for the Run for God Program,” he said, Hickey looked into it and thought it was such a great idea to combine faith and running, he told hs pastor about it at Grace Church on the Mountain in Netcong. The pastor agreed that it sounded great and charged Hickey with starting a program at their church.

“Basically, it's a 12-week Bible study program that's also comparable to the Couch to 5K program,” he explained. “Run for God is Bible study that uses scripture and running and metaphors between the two to explore your walk with Christ/your faith as similar to becoming an endurance athlete.” To date, over 125 people have gone through the Run for God program at Grace Church. “Though many go to our church, we have attracted people from other churches and faiths with a common ground of combining faith and running,” Hickey said.

One of those people is 27-year-old Harris, a practicing Catholic at Good Shepard Roman Catholic Church, who went to Grace Church for a little while. “It was there that I saw this program and got involved,” she said. Harris ran on and off during high school and then two years ago became involved with Run for God. “It's open to all Christians in the area but it's not necessarily about what church you belong to. It's about fellowship,” she said.

Harris' impetus to complete the New York City Marathon is her mother. “She's 65-year-old and says, 'If I'm 65 and am doing it then you can.'” Harris said she has had a very challenging year with a new job working in a care facility for people with disabilities and relationship challenges, but whenever she has doubts about training, her mom is her inspiration. “My mom pushes me,” she said, “We have a plan to do this together. That's just like life because things don't always go the way you planned but you still have to run your marathon of life.”

Hickey said one of his biggest challenges is the training. He has to get up at 3:45 a.m. to train before catching a 5:30 bus into the city where he works in Rockefeller Plaza so he can be at his desk by 7 a.m. He said his wife, Geralyn, is a huge support along with his daughter, Anna, and eldest, Sarah who is 24. “My joke with my wife is if I can ever break four hours, I'll retire from the marathon,” Hickey said. His personal best is 4:16. “Marathons take a lot out of you and training is very intense,” he said, “You get to mile 22 and are like 'why am I doing this?' then you wake up the next day and start thinking about your next one.”

The Run for God group based at Grace Church on the Mountain meets to train as a group on weekends at either Horseshoe Lake, in Roxbury, or at the Columbia Trail off of Route 206. Through The Run for God program, many have found a new lifestyle and taken part in something that just months prior would have seemed impossible. Others have learned to share the message of faith through a sport they now love.

“Running is like your spirituality,” Harris said, “There's the good and the bad, but your faith keeps you going.” Through Run for God participants learn the parallels between faith and endurance.