Jeff Padwa gets fit and gives back

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in an occasional series of short articles profiling our Jewish community’s unsung heroes, individuals who have not been previously featured in these pages for their acts of g’milut hasadim (loving kindness) or tikkun olam (healing the world).

PROVIDENCE – Jeff Padwa, city solicitor for the City of Providence, president of the board of Jewish Seniors Agency, husband and father – and the 2008 Rhode Island Campaign Chair for Barack Obama  – raised $25,000 for Ronald McDonald House in a June 2 ultra-marathon in South Africa.

“About 18 months ago, I decided that I wanted to mark turning 50 [this summer] with something,” Padwa said in a phone interview with The Jewish Voice. Knowing that he wanted to get in better physical shape and have some kind of experience, he began to exercise, he said. Several years of attending political events and parties – especially in the past decade – had led to a weight gain, despite his exercise routine.

So, even before he had a goal in mind, he began exercising more regularly and vigorously. At a picnic table while on vacation in Hawaii, Padwa found himself uttering these words: “I am thinking of running an ultra-marathon.” A mother and daughter seated at the table told him about Comrades, a South African ultra-marathon that they had run.

Calling it the world’s greatest ultra-marathon, Padwa explained that, with the exception of a year or two during World War II, the race has been run for some 92 consecutive years. Each year, the Comrades ultra-marathon draws approximately 20,000 runners, who must qualify for the race with sufficiently strong run times.

The 2014 race, according to the website, comrades.com, is capping race entrants at 18,000. The race distance, the website notes, is “approximately 89.9 kilometers” or, more familiarly to those in the U.S., nearly 56 miles.

“Comrades is] in the DNA of people from South Africa,” said Padwa. His decision made, Padwa then joined the Ronald McDonald House Running Club, led by Bob and Anne Rothenberg, and began training with them.

There’s nothing heavy-handed about the Rothenbergs (former Brown University track coaches), Padwa said, adding that they are generous in giving their time, expertise and caring. Padwa said, “They just ask, ‘If you run an event, wear our shirt.’”

Padwa then ran several races, including several marathons, and saw his times decrease and his endurance increase. In fact, in one marathon that he ran in November 2012, he beat his personal best by 17 minutes, with a time of 3:31, and attributed that success to Bob and the club.

To put Padwa’s running in perspective, consider these facts: Between Jan. 1 and June 1, 2013, he ran 1,200 miles and wore out six pairs of running shoes. He ran four marathons on two different weekends; some of his training runs included running from Providence to Woonsocket and back, and Providence to Newport.

Initially, Padwa didn’t think about using the ultra-marathon to raise money; however, when a second person asked him about it, he decided that the local Ronald McDonald House would be the ideal recipient, given the running club’s support. Ronald McDonald Houses across the country, including one in Providence near Hasbro Children’s Hospital, provide a “temporary home away from home” with meals and other resources to parents whose children are hospitalized for lengthy or complicated visits. Parents can focus their attention on their ill child and avoid long trips to the hospital.

He wanted to “return energy back to the Ronald McDonald [Running Club],” he said, so he had a fundraising event even before running in the Comrades race.

Recognizing the adversity that Ronald McDonald House guests face helped Padwa, he said, during some difficult parts of the course. “I thought about those who faced their own adversity,” he said.

With the June 2 race day having come and gone, the question remains: Is Padwa still running?

“I’m still running … and just getting back into something.” Post-race, he was “in great physical shape but mentally I was just fried,” said Padwa. Easing back into running makes sense, he asserts, adding, “Experts say you should take a day off for every mile you race. That’s about two months [for me]. That’s what I took off.”

He’s now running about four days a week, he said, and at a much higher level of fitness than before he trained.

Although he said that most Comrade runners don’t use the race as a fundraising tool, the camaraderie, fellowship and support among the runners and spectators is, he said, “unbelievable … unreal.”