Running for Recovery

Recovery from addiction and mental distress can feel isolating. Speed Freaks offers something different — a community that meets people where they are, introducing running and movement as a recovery tool, and moves alongside them and their whānau.  

The journey of Richie and his mum, Lindy, shows the impact of movement together. 

From closed to connected 

When Richie first met Speed Freaks, early in his recovery whilst at Nova Trust Residential Programme he described himself as closed off. Today he is “approachable, confident, someone who has improved dramatically”, open to learning and keen to run the trails in the Port Hills each week. 

He earned his Speed Freaks t-shirt in January 2023, and it carries real meaning. Wearing it, he says, he feels “whānau, support, dignity, and some honour.” 

Supporting the whole whānau, not just the individual 

One of the clearest impacts of the Speed Freaks kaupapa is that it recognises addiction affects whole families, not only the person in recovery. Lindy came along to the groups when her son Richie was struggling, and both credit that shared experience with strengthening their relationship. 

“People focus on the person with addiction… but mum had it just as bad, if not worse than I did,” Richie says. “Families don’t get the support that’s needed. For someone to know that they’re not out there alone.” 

After 20 years of living with distress — and, at times, the loss of friends, family and jobs — Lindy found a non-judgemental support system of her own. As she puts it, one of the hardest parts of standing beside someone with addiction is being judged by their behaviour. Speed Freaks gave her a space without judgement. 

“I’m walking for recovery for my mental health, to not be living in that distress zone that I lived in for years.” 

Together, the pair have found a way to talk about the past without shame or accusation — and to look forward. 

Belonging and a sense of family 

For Richie, running with Speed Freaks grew from trying something new in treatment, to a weekly race against himself, to a genuine commitment — and then to real connection. Coaches Jamie and Steph at the Nova group became the face of the programme for him, and the community kept welcoming him even through setbacks. 

“Even after I fell off, it was like I hadn’t left. I found a family,” he says. “It’s all positive, it’s like a good wee family.” 

That sense of belonging is where lasting change takes root: peers and coaches who turn up week after week, and a culture that lets people return without judgement. 

Building skills and futures 

Speed Freaks has given Richie room to use his strengths — his care for others and his creativity — while learning to direct that care toward himself first. The results speak for themselves. He completed his Level 4 Mental Health and Addiction Certificate with high marks, describing it as “one of the first times I’ve finished something,” and went on to gain a placement with Speed Freaks itself. 

“What other placement do you get to go running out in the hills? I got a great opportunity.” 

He now has many goals: a return to a 40-hour working week, and longer trail events like Crater Rim, after his 15km Skedaddle opened the door to the sport.

“I have been around for 37 years, and I hadn’t seen these events because of how closed off my life had been.” 

The ripple effect 

The impact doesn’t stop with one person. Friends from Richie’s past spotted him in the peer team’s Speed Freaks Q&A video and were struck by the change — “who’s this guy?” One of his own goals is to show others that a different path is possible. 

“As long as I try to be better than what I was yesterday, and do the right thing, I should be fine.” 

For Lindy, watching her son’s progress has been a privilege. “It’s a feeling one would always like to have of your child — to see them being successful in whatever they want to be achieving.” 

That, in the end, is the measure of Speed Freaks’ impact: not just kilometres run, but people reconnected — to themselves, to their whānau, and to a future they can believe in. 

By the numbers  

Richie and Lindy’s story is one of many. Over the past year, Speed Freaks ran alongside people in communities from Tāmaki Makaurau to Te Tai Poutini:

1,456 sessions delivered across five regions and online annually 

1,109 new Speed Freaks attending groups across Aotearoa 

9,830 participant attendances at runs, walks and connect sessions 

501 peer-volunteer attendances from people giving back to the kaupapa  

Every one of these numbers is a person on their own journey.