Better futures in the long run

Sterners have navigated rough patches

By Angie Mudd, Special to the Rocky

Published May 16, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photos By Joshua Duplechian / Special To The Rocky

Nick Sterner, left, put a newfound love of running on hold to spend nearly two years looking for his son Shane, who was on drugs and living house to house. Nick fell back into drug use during his search.

Nick and Shane Sterner lead some members of the Activity Inspired Rehabilitation Foundation on a run through City Park. Nick runs the foundation.

For Nick and Shane Sterner, Colfax Avenue represents the downtown streets of Denver that once held a tight grip on their drug addictions. It also represents the road that led them out of that horrific world.

And when they run along that same haunting stretch Sunday in the third Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon, they will remember what happened there -- Nick spent years combing Colfax, usually high on drugs, searching for his son Shane, who was looking for his next hit -- and they will think about how far they have come, and how many they have inspired.

Including each other.

"We have learned, and we are teaching people that if you can train and run in a marathon, you can do anything," Nick, 46, said. "I made some serious wrong turns in my life, and now I'm at a place where I know I'm supposed to be. I feel like this is what I was called to do."

The Sterners have partnered with the Denver Rescue Mission's New Life Program and Urban Peak of Denver youth program to create the Activity Inspired Rehabilitation Foundation, a nonprofit group that will be represented by about 50 members in the marathon, half-marathon and relay team races Sunday.

"If you're going to stay clean, you have to have something to hold you accountable and have something to motivate you," said Shane, 23, who has been clean for more than 21/2 years. "And it feels great to be a role model to people, because it wasn't long ago I was going through recovery myself."

Searching the streets

Nick said he was a habitual marijuana user before he got clean in 1995, picked up a pair of running shoes and began exercising. Running gave him a fresh start in life, made him feel great about himself and he bettered the three-hour mark in 2002 at the Governor's Cup Marathon.

But his son was a teenager fighting his own demons. He was experimenting with drugs and got hooked on methamphetamines, dropped out of school and hit the streets in 2003.

Nick put running on the shelf to devote his life to finding his son, who was living house to house, sleeping on couches. He got back on the streets -- and, ultimately, back into drugs.

He said he was doing meth, dealing it, hoping the only good that could come of it was that his unintended path of destruction could lead to his son, which it eventually did.

"That meth is a strong drug and my life around me completely fell apart, it really pulled me in a lot harder than I thought," Nick said. "Shane heard from his younger brother (that Nick was back on drugs), and when I saw him for the first time, he was pretty upset. I never knew he was proud of my accomplishments."

Shane kept in touch with his younger brother by phone but never told him where he was.

After nearly two years of Nick searching for his son, they reunited, with the help of Shane's younger brother, with a phone call in 2005. But when they finally got together at Nick's home, their reunion initially was a drug partnership, before a night of cooking meth in a kitchen gave Shane a revelation.

He wanted more in his life. He wanted to be an uncle to his brother's kids. He wanted to get clean. And he wanted his father to get clean.

"I told myself that I just couldn't do this to myself or to my family any more," Shane said. "I knew that if I did, I would end up dead. I accepted it. I expected it. But I didn't want that."

He decided to go through the New Life Program on one condition -- if his father joined him and they did it together.

"I was so disappointed in myself in getting sucked back into that, but at the same time, I knew it was a process on getting back my life," Nick said. "Like running a marathon, it doesn't happen overnight."

Inspiring others

Nick ran the first Colfax Marathon in 2006, with his son and fellow group members watching him from the same streets they used to stroll in search of drugs.

"They were so inspired, they were inspired by me, so I think that was my most emotional race that I have ever done," Nick said.

Shane indeed was inspired -- he quit smoking Jan. 1, 2007, and completed his first Colfax Marathon last year.

But he wasn't the only one inspired -- there were 15 other people from the Denver Rescue Mission who ran in last year's marathon events, leading to the development of the AIR Foundation.

"What is great about this is that they are graduates of the New Life Program, and they are getting such positive results because they can use their own stories," Denver Rescue Mission spokeswoman Greta Walker said. "They've been there, they've been able to pull their lives together, and the men in these programs respect them because they understand. I really think it's starting to take hold because this is a wonderful program that is making a big, positive difference in other people's lives."

The New Life runners in the race Sunday range in age from 18 to 63 and all battle addiction.

Derek Stone, 42, who has been in the program since August and will run the half-marathon, said Nick provides motivation and inspiration.

"It was time for me to get my life back," Stone said. "It was time for me to find what I was missing in my life. And being in this program, I have seen so many changes in my life. I love running. I love being out there running by myself. It helps me reflect on past and present behavior."

As part of the program, Stone and others are expected to attend at least two training sessions a week and two AIR Foundation meetings a month.

"We actually try to create an opportunity to get rid of as many excuses as possible," Nick said.

He runs the foundation full time and his son takes classes at Community College of Denver and hopes to possibly get a degree in journalism.

The Sterners hope the AIR Foundation's success can continue to grow and they can continue to inspire others.

They say their story will include more marathons they plan to run across the country, along with 50-milers, ultramarathons and 100-mile events in the Swiss Alps.

"But no matter where I am, I will always come back here to run the Colfax Marathon," Shane said. "I spent a lot of time on this street, so it's significant for me to have this race always be a part of my recovery."

On their marks

About 50 runners who have battled addiction will represent the AIR Foundation in various races of the Colorado Colfax Marathon on Sunday.

* Training: The foundation offers six training sessions a week -- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night at Washington Park; Friday mornings on various trails; Saturday morning at Washington Park; and Sunday afternoon at Washington Park or City Park. Runners are expected to attend at least two sessions a week and log their miles.

* Meetings: The AIR Foundation conducts meetings every Friday night and runners are expected to attend two of them a month.

* Online: theairfoundation.org

Race details

* What: Third Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon.

* Where: Start and finish at City Park.

* When: Sunday. Wheelchair race starts at 5:55 a.m.; all other races at 6 a.m.

* Races: Marathon (26.2 miles); half-marathon (13.1 miles); five-person relay event; National Wheelchair Marathon Championship.

* Registration: Available at the Sports & Fitness Expo at City Park from noon to 7 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Saturday. Online registration is closed.

* Parking: Available at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and east lots of the Denver Zoo.

* Street closures: Colfax Avenue and some adjacent streets from Aurora to Lakewood will have rolling closures or restrictions.

* Information: coloradocolfaxmarathon.org

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