GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — When Rob Woldhuis lines up for the start of the Fifth Third River Bank Run on Saturday, he will be easy to pick out of the crowd.
Woldhuis will be the runner wearing a tutu, which he says is all about getting people to smile and have a good time.
Although he is good spirits now, Woldhuis didn’t always have a positive outlook on life.
In many ways, Woldhuis says he has always been a runner.
“In the past, I ran from feelings, I ran from connecting to other people, I ran from all the good things in my life because I didn’t think I deserved that,” he said.
A series of bad decisions fueled by drug addiction led to multiple arrests and nearly 10 years of his life being spent behind bars.
While he was imprisoned in 2007, his two oldest sons were killed in a crash in northern Michigan, pushing him further down the path of self-destruction. When he was released, he moved to Las Vegas and found rock bottom through needles filled with drugs.
“I was spending every waking moment trying to find enough drugs to put into a needle to put into my arm,” he said. “That’s absolutely no way to live.”
FULL STORY: WOOD TV