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On Saturday, hundreds will take another step toward better health at the aptly named “Road to Wellness” in Roxbury. And it’s clear the 5K and 2-mile walk is so much more than an athletic event. “They make me feel so wonderful. That this is where I’m supposed to be,” said longtime participant Rbey Thomas. She can’t help but get emotional when she talks about her own health journey a journey that began during the pandemic. “Just reflecting over my life and my health and my well-being after losing loved ones,” she said. “It just took a toll on my health.”It turns out help was as close as her own neighborhood. “Just being around community that’s not going to judge you,” Thomas explained. “A safe place to be and enjoy and see people who look like you.”Fellow participant Ivy Taylor says that is the point. “I know these streets and I’ve seen these people and these people, when they see me, although I may not be the fastest runner out there, they are cheering me,” Taylor said. “To be able to do it right next to my neighbors is amazing. Taylor started taking part in the “Road to Wellness” when the event launched 10 years ago. Now, she’s a coach, leading other runners and walkers through twelve weeks of training before race day. “We do like Franklin Park, so we can learn how to do hills, and we do some stairs,” she said. “We do different activities to get people into the running and being consistent with it.”That’s exactly what race founder Thaddeus Miles envisioned when he helped create this event a decade ago. And it started with one of the scariest moments of his life.”I went home, went to the gym with my son and fainted,” Miles remembered. “I got to the hospital, and they didn’t understand how I didn’t have a stroke because my blood pressure was 220 over 180.”After that, Miles took up running to improve his heart health. But he quickly noticed something at the races he signed up for with a friend.”The first race with him, I didn’t see anybody that looked like me. The second race I ran with him, I didn’t see anybody that looked like me,” he said. So, the “Road to Wellness” was born. The first year, they had just 125 people come out. But after teaming up with The Dimock Center and the Boston Athletic Association, the idea caught fire. “The next thing you know, we have over a thousand people coming out,” said Miles. “People would tell me they didn’t know Roxbury was this beautiful.”Beyond bringing his community together, Miles said it’s about helping people prioritize their health. Something he learned the hard way. “I want to let out some tears because, honestly, from that time 10 years ago, I wasn’t sure I would be here in 10 years,” he said. Ivy Taylor and Rbey Thomas are living that message and helping it grow. “I thrive off that. I feed off it, and I use it in my daily life, and I pass it on,” said Thomas.The “Road to Wellness” is Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Dimock Center in Roxbury. Registration is free.