Today is a special day!

After today's Monday run, we have a special celebration complete with gluten free brownies, orange juice and coffee courtesy of Coffee Bean.

What was the occasion you ask?  Today was the birthday of our founder, Judge Craig Mitchell.  If hadn't been born 63 years ago, it's unlikely the Skid Row Running Club would have been founded.

We had a good group come out to support.  At the end of run, a couple homeless folks came out to join us.  One of them was Roderick Brown.  He is a gentleman that Judge Mitchell sentenced to prison many years ago.  Roderick was paroled to the Midnight Mission.  While he was there, he reached out the Craig and invited him to visit to see what he was up to.

Judge Mitchell in typical fashion ran to the Midnight Mission, which is about 1 mile from the downtown LA Superior Courts.  When got there and took a look around, he had a meeting with the then director of the Midnight Mission.  They talked and thus the Skid Row Running Club was born.

LA County Board of Supervisors

Yesterday, the LA County Board of Supervisors presented awards to Mark, Gabi and Craig, in recognition of their work and contributions to the homeless community in the award winning documentary, Skid Row Marathon.  

This project started in 2013 after Gabi, a life long runner, read an article in the LA Times about a judge who was training formerly homeless individuals, many recovering from addiction or incarceration.  

Skid Row Marathon was initially released in the Los Angeles film festival and has gone on to critical acclaim, winning over 13 awards at various film festival around the world.  The documentary documents the beginnings our our running club and the individual stories of 4 of our runners including Judge Craig Mitchell.  

The documentary demonstrates how small steps and the impact of a few can have on an entire community.  After watching Skid Row Marathon, audiences will see the homeless in a different light.

Congratulations to Mark, Gabi and Craig!