Recovering meth addict starts local running club for others in recovery.

Loretta Sword, The Pueblo Chieftain

As a club owner in Vegas, he used methamphetamines to run from himself and from life.

He found sobriety and a new source of spirituality in a 12-step program but Rob Archuleta said he didn't find God until he laced up a pair running shoes and hit the pavement for the first time.

And he was hooked again - but this time on something that propelled him into a new life as a Christian while helping him shed about half of the 90 pounds he had gained in his first four months of sobriety.

Now four years clean, 35-year-old Archuleta has launched a running club for addicts of all stripe - "drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling, bad relationships, whatever," he said during an interview Thursday.

He said he got the idea for Addicts to Athletes about six months ago, when the 12-step meeting where he got sober "just sort of died off. I didn't have anywhere to get my chips" - tokens that are given in such programs to mark milestones in sobriety. "I just want to share what I've found in running with other addicts," he said. "This seemed like a good way to do it."

Archuleta had been hired by Crossroads Turning Points recovery center during his first year off meth, and the organization decided to enter a team in the YMCA's annual Corporate Cup fitness competition.

A co-worker suggested that he and Archuleta enter the 5K race that was part of the competition. He says he laughed at first because his weight had ballooned from 165 pounds to about 250 in the first four months of his recovery.

But he took the challenge and while training for that event, Archuleta

recalls, "I dropped down to 200 pounds of muscle. The first time I felt that 'runner's high,' I thought it was from the song I had been playing, so I kept rewinding and playing it over and over every time I ran, looking for the same feeling. Finally, I quit searching for the high and I started praying, and that high felt better than anything I'd ever felt at any nightclub, on any drug. I found spirituality in the 12-step programs, but I became a Christian through running."

Since then, he said, his wife Sheena, who also is in recovery, and his brothers have joined him in the sport, and he has become an avid competitor.

"My addictive personality kicked in and I started doing half-marathons and marathons. One of the best moments in my sobriety was during a half-marathon with my brother. I looked over at him during the race and he had tears in his eyes, and he just looked at me and said 'Dude, I love you,' " Archuleta said, his own eyes brimming at the memory.

Archuleta said he hopes Addicts to Athletes will help others find the healing that he has found in 12-step programs and in running.

Club members will meet at 10 a.m. every Saturday at a local track for a half-hour 12-step meeting before running (or walking), and then finish with stretching and a period of quiet reflection or meditation. The first formal meeting will be April 11.

Archuleta will be available as a coach, and he said many individuals and organizations have offered support of various kinds, from coaching to shelter in bad weather.

"Crossroads has been very supportive of this in the time we've been putting the club together and meeting informally," Archuleta said.

The owners of Pueblo Athletic Club and Major Fitness have agreed to allow Addicts to Athletes to work out at both facilities when weather won't permit running outdoors.

Local members of the American Kempo Karate Association and Team Pueblo have offered free coaching, and members of Southern Colorado Runners also have volunteered to help as trainers, and in organizing a community run to promote awareness about recovery from addiction, Archuleta said. He's been working closely with the Pueblo Alliance for Healthy Teens as well.

"The number of people who think this is a great idea and have gotten on board is just amazing," Archuleta said. "We're ready to hit the road."