#TestimonyTues - An Amazing Journey

By: Debbie Johnson, BGR! Baton Rouge Wow! “Black Girls Run/BGR” has been more than an experience but an amazing journey that has given me a new life. Allow me to point out key road markers and signs from my travel log. A year ago I was fighting a very serious illness. I lost my hair through ongoing RA treatments compounded by an unhealthy lifestyle including poor diet and zero exercise. Someone shared the “Black Girls Run” concept with me and I thought to myself, “I’m too old, I’m too ill, too tired and don’t even mention the cute little spandex/running outfits that I envisioned in my future with my current rear end!   Never one to shirk a challenge and ready for adventure, I toured the website and the more I learned the more excited I became. Considering all the present perceived and actual negatives I could feel and see my future and did what some would say was the unthinkable; I became the newest BGR member. That tiny step was actually a huge leap into not only a more fulfilled physical and emotional life, a metamorphosis of a caterpillar (slow, lowly) to a butterfly (soaring, beautiful and free). My BGR family provides unconditional support, encouragement, hugs, a ready shoulder and helping hand. Their actions, words and deeds embody the life motto of “No woman left behind “. A year ago I went amazingly from the proverbial couch potato to a 5k training program, and then, drum roll please…my FIRST MARATHON! As I approached the finish line with a bald head and tear filled face my “Sole Sisters” ran along- side me, screaming, clapping, filled with excitement and joy for me. We have “THE BEST” Ambassadors, team leaders and committed ladies here in BGR - Baton Rouge at the risk of obvious bias of course. Because of BR-BGR my nutrition, health and waistline have all moved in the right direction. Black Girls Run Baton Rouge – ROCK and ROLLS! My journey continues with weekly runs with BGR. I insist on referring to myself as a “runner” not because I run fast like any Olympian, but because I RUN for my heart, my soul, my sisters and my life. Thanks to my BGR-Baton Rouge “Sole Sisters” I will meet you on the pavement. One step, one block, one mile, one 5K, one 10K we are closer to the finish line!

Also in Black Girls RUN!