A former UK track runner brought his message of support for dating violence protection legislation from Lexington to Frankfort Thursday – on foot.
"It got to the point where I was just like 'One foot in front of another. Keep going.' You just try to ignore the fact that you've got eight miles left, just make it to the stop sign, then make it to the building, then make it to the highway," Josh Nadzam says.
The energetic activist covered close to 26 miles in support of House Bill 8, a measure that would add victims of dating violence to the state’s current law governing domestic protective orders. He said the run also took on a symbolic meaning.
"Any pain I experience is nothing compared to what victims of domestic violence experience, so my pain at most is fleeting. I could have stopped at mile 10 and said no, I'm done, and got a ride," he says.
Nadzam solicited donations per mile and has so far raised over $4,000.
While he says the number is a bit shy of his goal of $5,000, there are still seven days left in the fundraiser. The event was organized through GreenHouse17, an organization and emergency shelter formerly known as the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Prevention Program.
