Seventeen years ago today, I was running a 65km Ultramarathon from Offenburg to Baden-Baden in Germany and at the time I was 38 years old.
It was a week on from my last horrible, and as usual disastrous, booze session. A date I will never forget as my father died on 4th December 2018. It had been in the same pub where I’d started my drinking career more than 20 years earlier - the one where my father had ‘taught’ me how to drink when I was about fifteen. I’d been so drunk that night I lost my wallet containing 2000€ and slept rough in minus temperatures before being picked up in the morning by the Police.
Over the years, my drinking had been so heavy and frequent, that I wasn’t far away from being homeless. I was, and still am, a Professional gambler, living on my own without rules. It was a free and fun lifestyle but due to my heavy drinking, my financial situation was diminishing. So, to save money, I bought a motorhome, which was also provided a convenient place to collapse in when I was drunk but also transported me to running races.
Somehow, I was still able to run Marathons and Ultra-Marathons such as the 80km Swiss Alpine and even two Ironmans. I was a binge-drinker having heavy sessions which could last up to three weeks being drunk every day and then have long sober breaks in between of up to three months. At my lowest point, I drank in shady bars and with homeless people in the park.
A week after my last season, I still felt hungover, yet I decided to drive to Offenburg to run with a group of people for my sixth ultra of the year. I still don’t understand how I was able doing that over so many years despite drinking so heavily. Although it wasn’t a usual kind of event as most of the participants had problems with alcohol, drugs, relationships, or mental issues despite being able to run 65km and as a group running together.
I ran alongside a runner from Great Britain who jogged along at a very economical pace. Every 10kms there was a break for food and water, where we started chatting. His name was Rory Coleman a record-breaking runner, who’d had similar drinking issues to mine. We talked for the rest of the run sharing our life-stories.
When we arrived in Baden-Baden during the Christmas Market it was snowing. Most of the runners, including myself, had tears in their eyes (like I do now, writing this article). And in that moment, it became clear to me that I would never touch a drop of alcohol again. In a moment my fifteen years of fighting alcohol was over, and I’ve never looked back since. Up until then I’d always thought of quitting, but never had the mindset.
Since then, I’ve never had the urge to drink again.
That day changed my live completely. I disconnected from my drinking friends (including my drinking parents) and stopped squandering my money in bars. And although Rory and I have never met since in person, those few hours together changed my life. Today I received a congratulatory email marking seventeen years of sobriety. Rory sends me one every 11th of December that says, ‘Well Done Ron’.
I now live a life of awareness, meditation, spirituality and Buddhism. I enjoy family-time with my young daughter still in my motorhome with two cats, a laptop and a small e-piano for company. My mission is to save people who are struggling with alcohol and depression, so I can repay my debt to Rory - the one person that helped me, and that can help you if you are struggling like I was back in 2004.
Rory Coleman - 28 years' dry - 1,118 Marathons - One Life
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