Last March, Angela Hamilton's 16 year old son Nolan helped her run her personal best in the Knoxville Marathon to re-qualify for the 2010 Boston Marathon. By October, Nolan had been admitted to a wilderness intervention for substance abuse, and today he is finishing his high school education at a therapeutic boarding school in Utah. Angela and her husband David, a local orthodontist, have learned the painful truth about the prevalence of teen substance abuse and the long term consequences of early addiction. 
 
"As painful as this has been for our family, we equally celebrate each day of Nolan's recovery and solemnly realize this will be an ongoing lifetime battle which will require tremendous support. Countless numbers of young teens develop addictions, with all the costly consequences and devastation not only to them, but to their families and the community." said Angela.

The Boston Marathon is a 26.2 mile annual race that will occur this year on April 19. Angela has been training hard for 4 months in preparation for the race. She has run 4 previous marathons and hopes to finish under 4 hours.  During her training and with every step of the race, Angela will be running to support her son's recovery. David and Angela want to bring awareness to the problem of teen substance abuse and the denial that exists about it in many families.

At the same time, they want to raise funds for Exodus Homes, a local faith-based United Way agency that provides 82 beds of supportive housing for homeless recovering people who are returning to the community from treatment centers and prisons. The Hamiltons have been Exodus supporters for years and appreciate the positive impact the program has on its residents and the community. They explained why they are raising funds for Exodus Homes in the Running For Recovery project, "We know that many families do not have the opportunity to help their teen as we have, and Exodus Homes is here to help recovering adults who typically became addicted in their teen years."

The Hamiltons are asking the public to support Angela's run by pledging $1.00, $5.00, $10.00 per mile, or by making a gift of any amount. They would like to find a corporate or individual sponsor to match each gift, and interested parties should contact Exodus Homes. People who donate $130 or more will receive a commemorative t-shirt with a unique red, white and blue Running for Recovery logo designed by Nolan’s step-sister, Christina.

The Rev. Susan Smith, assistant executive director of Exodus Homes, will be in Boston to cover the event for local media including real time feeds to the Exodus Homes Facebook Group and Twitter. She is excited about the Running for Recovery project saying, "We are thrilled that Angela's Boston Marathon run will be raising awareness about early addiction while raising funds for Exodus Homes. Many of our residents needed more help in their younger years, and we need help now addressing broken lives ravaged by addiction."
    
A banner listing the names of all who give in Running for Recovery by April 13, 2010 will be displayed in Boston the day of the race so that donors can be there with the Hamiltons and Exodus Homes. "We will bring their names with us because we want the nation to know that people in NC care about teen addiction and the adults who are suffering today as a result" says Angela.
 
For more information about Running For Recovery contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 susansmith@charter.net. or Angela Hamilton at 828-381-0105 angelaham@charter.net. To give online, go to the Exodus Homes home page and click the “Donate” button in the top right hand corner. You can also mail your contributions to  P.O. Box 3311 Hickory, NC 28603. Please designate your gifts to Running for Recovery.