St. John Tradewinds, March 8-14, 2010 = 7

St. John Runners Raise Money for Team
River Runner During 8 Tuff Miles Race

By Jaime Elliott
St. John Tradewinds

While most people ran the 14th Annual 8 Tuff
Miles road race on Saturday, February 27, to beat
their times from last year — or dismantle the course
record like race winner Jeff Chorny — two runners
hit the pavement for a purpose.

Veteran runners Maurice Chabuz and Hank Slod-
den used their legs to raise money for wounded mili-
tary veterans. They started the race at the back of the
pack of about 900 participants and raised money for
each person they passed.

The two St. John business owners and runners
were moved by Team River Runner (TRR), a non-
profit organization which teaches adaptive kayaking
to wounded veterans at about 20 veterans hospitals
across the country including Walter Reed Army Med-
ical Center.

The group has brought veterans to Love City twice
to put their training to good use, kayaking the beauti-
ful waters off St. John.

After meeting TRR executive director Joe Mor-
nini, Chabuz and Slodden were inspired to help the
group any way they could — and the runners natu-
rally thought of the island’s biggest road race as the

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perfect venue.

“Tt was just a vehicle to raise some money for what
TRR does,” said Chabuz. “Most of what they do is
all volunteer work. Joe [Mornini] is a guidance coun-
selor, and he does this for nothing.”

“IT wanted to raise money to try to get them down
here again because what they do is so impressive,”
Chabuz said.

With people pledging anywhere from a few pen-
nies to several dollars for each runner passed, Chabuz
was able to raise about $6,000 for TRR by passing
750 people. Slodden raised even more by passing
about 558 people on his way to the finish line.

When word spread about Chabuz’s plan, residents
from across the island and the mainland supported
him in full force.

“T got everything from spare change up to a pledge
of $1,000,” said Chabuz. “I got a lot of encourage-
ment and a lot of people supported me. Even when
I was running, people called out to me saying they’d
donate too.”

“Some people came up and gave me money for
passing them,” Chabuz said. “One person gave me 50
cents per person I passed and then an extra $50 for

Continued on Page 16

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