‘Running changes everything:’ Couples unite in cause to provide kids with athletic shoes

Jim and Pat Drake of Gold River lost their 36-year-old daughter in a plane crash in 2008, and the pain of losing a child resonated with them as did their cause to honor the memory of the child they lost.

That memory, a love of running and a Sacramento Bee story led to the Drakes offering a $20,000 gift to buy shoes.

Jim Drake said he was drinking his morning coffee during the holidays and came upon a Bee story and a large photo of smiling children ready to take off for the December “Run Because You Can” 5K at Crocker Park. The runners were part of the Runnin’ for Rhett program formed by Randy and Beth Seevers.

The story was part of Bee’s annual Book of Dreams. It highlighted the Seevers’ youth training programs and the dream to receive donations to buy shoes for 1,000 students for the next spring and fall races.

The Seevers, too, had lost a child, 7-year old son Rhett, in 2004 – eventually prompting them to establish the program in his name.

“I was trying to wake up; I was flipping pages and then I saw this article,” Jim Drake said. “I set it aside and said to my wife, ‘I think we should donate some shoes ... let’s just round it up to $20,000.’ It felt good.”

With shared loss and a shared connection to running – Jim Drake, 81, once was an avid runner – they met last week to share memories and talk about the generous gift to fulfill the dream and then some. The four met for the first time at Sacramento’s Fleet Feet on J Street.

“This donation will help us put shoes on so many more children and we are just beyond grateful,” Randy Seevers said.

Both couples suffered loss and wish to help others. They believe in the great good that comes from introducing children to running. It gives them a challenge, helps them become fit, is great fun and can launch a healthy lifestyle, said Jim Drake.

And both have ties to putting on shoes and running for miles.

Going for a run

Running changed the course of all four of their lives and continues to alter the trajectory for thousands of children who will become physically active because of them.

On the one-year anniversary of Rhett’s death, Beth ran the Shamrockin’ St. Patrick’s Day Half Marathon in her son’s memory.

By 2010, the Seevers had begun Runnin’ for Rhett youth training programs as a way to help children do something their own son couldn’t.

By 2017, they realized they needed to also provide shoes for many kids whose parents couldn’t afford athletic wear. At full steam, the Runnin’ for Rhett Program sponsors fitness programs in 75 area schools and puts on two races a year. In a years’ time, as many as 7,000 children between the ages of 5 to 18 participate in their two 5K events.

Drake retired many years ago from a career in the insurance industry and spent years as an avid runner. At 36, he decided to stop smoking and get active.

“When I first started out it took me a month to be able to run a mile,” he said.

By age 56, he says, he held the North America record for running 213 miles straight in a 48-hour period in the 50-and-up category.

He also ran 100-mile races six times before aging out, he said.

Today, he does “a little” running, but his sport of choice is biking.

‘Change agent that creates good’

Ben Cooke, business development director for Fleet Feet Sacramento, partners with Runnin’ for Rhett to buy the kids shoes from New Balance at below cost.

He looked on Wednesday as the two couples talked kids and running in front of J Street store. Jim Drake has brought the newspaper page with the story that had motivated him to make the donation.

“Ultimately … running is a change agent that creates good,” he said. “When you have one good thing leading to another, it rolls and rolls forward. It creates collateral benefits in a community that just stacks up, one benefit upon another. Runnin’ for Rhett is the perfect example. It just does so much good.”

Later, the foursome entered the store to memorialize their encounter by taking a photo against a backdrop of a baby blue Volkswagen bus turned shoe display rack. Coincidentally, it was the same baby blue color that brands Runnin’ for Rhett.

Above their heads on the wall was a large decal that read: “Running changes everything.”

For the generous foursome, and the kids who would not otherwise be able to participate in Runnin’ for Rhett without donated shoes, the decal seemed to be a fitting reminder.

“Runnin’ for Rhett seems to give great hope for kids.,” Jim Drake said. “If they can get into sports like this, and they have the right shoes, it will make memories that will never go away.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.