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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022 Page 5 ADVOCATE | FROM PAGE 3 earned his living as a personal trainer since establishing his fi tness and boxing gym in Woburn in 2010. He and his wife Tonya, who is originally from Virginia, have been together for 16 years. They got married on May 23, 2010 — a date that is tattooed on his left wrist. The couple bought a home on Walnut Street in Saugus several months after their marriage. They have a fi ve-year-old son, Isaiah. Montella’s Mission Ready was the recipient of a Cummings Foundation $ 100,000 grant last year after its second year as a nonprofit organization. His goal is to acquire land where he can conduct more outdoor programs and become involved with the youths that are currently incarcerated in detention centers. The longest distance Montella has ever run is 50 kilometers (31.1 miles). But he has set a goal to run 50 miles on April 24. For more information about Mission Ready and Montella’s 100-mile run, go to https:// www.missionready100k.org/. Some highlights of this week’s interview follow. Q: You describe yourself as an “at-risk kid.” Growing up, were you able to avoid the drugs and alcohol that you were exposed to? A: I definitely partied. I did Cocaine, LSD, prescription pills and other stuff . Yes, I went down that road, but I didn’t have an addictive personality. For me, I was just passing time until [high school] graduation. Q: So, you tried drugs and alcohol, but didn’t get hooked. A: Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. No, I didn’t have an addiction to drugs or alcohol. My addiction was physical fi tness and serving others. I don’t know what it’s like to lose my life over addiction, but I do know what it’s like to hold me back from my true potential. And that’s fear. My overcoming fear runs parallel with people who overcome their addictions. For me, I can go punch a heavy punching bag or go for a run. Q: How bad was it for you growing up? A: After a while, for me, it was normal. An environment can be toxic, but you adapt to it. I never truly understood the crap that my childhood did to me until I got older. Q: What was the worst situation you were in as an atrisk kid? A: I remember in the second and third grades, going to bed with my shoes on and not sleeping well. I used to run out of the house at night. Q: So, tell me about your real dad. A: There was no paternal love there. He was a drug addict who wasn’t around my life a lot. He was just a man who was broken and just couldn’t fi x himself. He died in a hospital, in a bed — sick and weak. I’m grateful for his existence, of course, as I came into the world. I’m also grateful for his lack of participation, as he really wasn’t around. Nowadays, I look at my son, and I see the moments where he needs me, and I think back to when I was a kid and my father wasn’t there. So, I’m raising my son the way it could have been done with me. Q: So, besides your real dad, there were other men in your mom’s life when you were growing up? A: Yes. The men tended to fi nd the nurturing and the compassionate side of my mom and tended to use that against her: my stepfather and three other men who followed. My father was a drug addict and some of the men in my mother’s life weren’t too kind. My mom didn’t want to give up on love. Q: How did your siblings turn out? A: My older brother is an addict. My other brother and the oldest of my two sisters live in New Bedford and seem to be doing okay. My younger brother has three kids and is doing well. And the oldest of my two sisters has a child. My youngest sister just graduated from high school and is trying to figure things out. Her journey in life is just beginning. Q: When did you decide you wanted to be a Marine? A: I saw a Marine Corps commercial in the seventh grade. There was this guy climbing a cliff and slaying this dragon, and I knew that’s what I wanted to be when I graduated. The recruiter was at my house the year before I graduated. He was trying to get my brother to sign up. I was a junior then. Going into my senior year, he came back. I was a physical kid, so I wanted to be a Marine. Q: What was the greatest achievement for you during your time as a Marine? A: I received a Certifi cate of Commendation on April 2, 1999, for being the Honor Graduate of Platoon 3028. I was fi rst in a class of 60-plus recruits undergoing recruit training at the Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, South Carolina. That was one of the proudest moments of my individual life. I received another Certifi cate of Commendation [April 26 through May 3, 2002] for leading a base-wide detail tasked with removing trash and debris from 220 acres of the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Va. Q: Any special plans for Patriots’ Day, when they will have a lot of runners competing in the Boston Marathon? A: Not really. On April 18, I might go for a short run, as I will be getting ready for a long run. I’ll be headed out at midnight that Sunday (April 24). I will try to accomplish 50 miles in 13 hours or less. On Patriots’ Day, I might do a half marathon. Q: So, to date, what’s the longest run you have ever done? A: I’ve done a 50K run — that’s 31.1 miles. I left my house at 2:30 in the morning and ran to Boston about two months ago. Q: It sounds like you run all times of the day. A: Whenever I can find the time, because I am so busy. I have to be a father and a husband, in addition to running the gym. I do a lot of running at night when everybody is sleeping. Q: Do you run on the Northern Strand Community Trail — which goes through Saugus, Everett, Lynn, Malden and Revere? A: Yes. If I fi nd a path, I’m on it. I like to run to the [Riverside] cemetery a lot, and the Jewish Cemetery in Woburn. Q: Do you consider yourself to be a spiritual person? A: Absolutely. I’m an active ordained minister — Sept. 22, 2014, from the Universal Life Church Ministries. I have performed eight marriages so far. Q: Have you always been a spiritual person? A: Yes. I have always felt moved by something other than myself, in regard to helping others. I’ve always had the confidence in myself to help others. There’s no way I’m going to run 100 miles in less than 30 hours without something outside of me helping to get it done. Q: What’s your ultimate goal in life? A: It’s kind of twofold: The fi rst part is being able to provide a ADVOCATE | SEE PAGE 6 $$ CASH FOR YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR SUV! $$ GET YOUR VEHICLE SPRING READY! 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