Three years ago, when Tyrone Duncan was jobless, recovering from a spinal injury and a stintin a homeless shelter, some volunteers at his transitional housing site encouraged him to run with them as they trained for a race.
So it’s no surprise when Duncan says running turned his life around. He is far from the only person in sneakers to make that claim. A growing number of national organizations are using the sport to help kids and adults facing such challenges as homelessness, drugs and cancer. They have a variety of names — Back on My Feet, Achilles International, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, Run to Recover — but all have turned to running for the psychological and physiological benefits that training for a race can bring.