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It's not a stretch to say that running
has made Travis a new man.
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To the casual observer, Travis Noid will simply be another face and pair of churning legs come May 14, when the 34th annual Fifth Third River Bank Run convenes to the delight of thousands of runners.
But if you were to put a microscope on Travis and the fact he’s participating at all, you’d glimpse a miracle in the making.
It wasn’t that long ago when getting Travis to show up for a week of exercise appointments with his Hope Network contact went something like this:
MONDAY: “Travis just called in sick.”
WEDNESDAY: “Um, that was Travis. Said he’s not feeling well.”
FRIDAY: “Anyone seen or heard from Travis?”
“Some weeks, he’d bail three days out of three,” recalls Jessica Terpstra, a certified personal trainer on board with Hope Network as a rehabilitation assistant assigned to Travis.
But she beams with pride for him now, calling Travis “One of the best clients I’ve ever had.”
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Travis and Jessica stow their gear before hitting the track at the David D. Hunting YMCA in downtown Grand Rapids.
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Travis is not only lucky to have Jessica in his corner, but frankly, lucky to be alive.
At the age of 6, he was involved in an auto accident that propelled his small body through the windshield. During emergency surgery, his heart stopped. He lay three weeks in a coma, and spent the better part of a year hospitalized.
Travis eventually returned home, but with a brain injury that continues to affect him today.
Against all odds, Travis managed to graduate from Berrien Springs High School in 1990, and even competed in tennis and cross-country. He remembers sports as grueling then, though -- especially the running, where he’d consistently finish far back in the pack.
After high school, he got a job in Berrien Springs at what he calls “a mom-‘n-pop supermarket.” He moved to the Grand Rapids area about 11 years ago.
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Travis and Jessica typically run 5-7 miles on the Y's indoor track.
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Travis has been partnering with Hope Network for nearly a decade, but it wasn’t until nearly two years ago that he was paired with Jessica, in an effort to better manage his lifestyle.
He was overweight by roughly 30 pounds, and gone was whatever motivation he’d had during high school to compete in sports, or even adhere to healthy habits.
Travis, 39, acknowledges that for weeks on end, he’d do anything to avoid keeping his appointments with Jessica, 24. “I’d call in sick,” he says. “Or I’d try to make my sessions shorter.”
Jessica refused to give up on him, though. Little by little, she encouraged him to see himself not only as he was, but what he could grow to be.
(Continued on page 2...)