New Technology World

Matt Roberts poses in the mountains of Colorado during the final 34 miles of the 100-mile race on August 20.

Growing up as the brother of a talented athlete, Matt Roberts felt inferior when his athleticism fell short.

Although Matt supported his brother Andrew every step of the way, Matt dropped out of Columbus North High School where he was a swimmer and was homeschooled for the last two years. He turned to drug and alcohol abuse, which led to his ten-year addiction, which he barely survived.

Ten more years after Matt was able to beat his addiction, Andrew was preparing for his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2018. Matt decided to take fitness seriously and began his fitness journey to bond with Andrew.

“I wanted to suffer with him while he was deployed,” Matt said. I let it go.”

On Oct. 14, Matt, now 38, plans to run 100 miles (100 miles) through the hills of northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky to raise awareness of mental health and addiction recovery. The “No Business 100” begins and ends in Jamestown, Tennessee.

Matt’s fitness journey began with weightlifting, and one day he got up at 4:30 am to work out. He shared his progress with Andrew, who encouraged him to keep going.

In 2019 Matt began training for the Indianapolis 500 Mini Marathon. He competed in his 13.1-mile race that May.

“When I finished, I immediately thought, ‘I want more,'” he said.

So Matt signed up for the Mill Race Marathon and ran the 26.2-mile race that September. Since then, his runs have only gotten longer.

Matt raced 50 miles at Brown County State Park in April 2020. In April 2021, he ran a 100-mile race in Pekin, Illinois, taking about 37 hours to complete.

“I didn’t know what I was made of,” he said.

In September 2021 Matt ran the Mill Race half marathon and a month later he ran the Nobstone 50K in Brown County. He ran his 50-mile race in Georgia in April this year and paced the runners in his final 34 miles of his 100-mile race in Colorado on August 20.

Along the way, Matt became connected to New Shoe Day through a friend. New Shoe Day is a non-profit, positive mental health-focused operating community that creates connection and community while empowering people through movement.

New Shoe Day supports organizations such as the Athlead Athletics program that seek to foster change in their communities by developing young athletes and leaders through athletics. Indianapolis and Monumental Kids Movement is an athletics program that supports children’s mental health and running and fitness.

“It’s really kind of a mental health and running movement,” he said.

Matt’s journey has taken him a long way since he attended a 12-step recovery program, a detox at the former Faribanks Hospital in Indianapolis, and a local intensive outpatient program called Steps of Addiction Recovery (SOAR). led.

“It took me a long time to find fitness from there,” he said. “A lot of it was finding myself and learning how to be a productive member of society.

Matt attended IUPUC and received an MBA from Indiana University in 2011. He is now married with three children and works for the consulting firm eimagine on the northwest side of Indianapolis, but has been working from his home since the COVID-his pandemic. He started in 2020.

Matt is now in a happy place physically and mentally.

“I match my passion for running with my passion for mental health,” he said.