Mike Grant - Former Alcoholic - Now a Therapist and Using Running in Recovery

Mike Grant recently published a book called (Re)Making A Sandwich. It's a creative nonfiction memoir that follows him for 6 years as he goes through treatment to fulfill the requirements of an intensive diversion program for habitual drunk drivers. Early in his recovery he started running as a way to manage emotions and stress. He was running to parks with his son who was 4 when he got sober, which was about a 1/2 mile away. He kept at it and in his 9.5 years of recovery he has run 6 marathons, 2 50 mile races, and completed his first 100 mile ultra marathon this past August.

He also went back to school to work in addiction, he has his LCSW and is a certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. He has partnered with the Alano Club here in Portland to create a running club called RUN TRG. The TRG stands for The Recovery Gym which is a gym that is funded by a SAMSHA grant which provides free CrossFit classes for people who identify in recovery 3 times a day M-F and a class on Saturday. Part of the grant allows for a running club which we created. They have 3 organized runs per week that are led by an amazing coach and myself. They have races that they train for as a group and individual races as well. If you are doing the training runs the club will help cover the cost of the races to get people training for events. It's the best recovery he has been a part of. They're like family, people are meeting goals and pushing themselves to do things that they didn't know they were capable of. Plus they have almost no one relapse, which is the real goal right!

Mike is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. He currently works as an addiction therapist for Kaiser Permanente and as an adjunct professor in the Alcohol and Drug Counseling Program at Portland Community College. Mike received his Bachelors and Master of Social Work degrees from Portland State University. Mike is a member of the RUN TRG running group for people who identify in recovery. Mike enjoys training for ultra-marathons in his spare time and has recently completed both a 100 and 50 mile endurance race. Mike is working towards starting a private practice called Aid Station Sports Performance Therapy to help people meet performance goals in 2022. Mike lives with his son in Portland, Oregon.