Eric Smoot: The Running Man
When Eric Smoot was 15, he literally found his stride.
But when Eric Smoot was a homeless 10-year-old, he did not know what the stride was supposed to do for him, though it had to be better than the life that seemed to be his dubious partner. The streets surely would swallow him up. He would be lost as thousands of other kids on the fringe are lost.
His mom was a drug addict who hid out nights with Eric in an Evanston beauty salon where she worked. She would pretend to close up shop and then sneak back with Eric to hide from the cold.
But she was caught by child-protection watchdogs. Before they arrived to take Eric, mom sent him to Gary, Ind., for a “better life” with an older sister. But he soon would have to leave there, too. More drugs.
That’s where Judy Jemison found him. She and her husband already had three kids and little left over for basic necessities. But Eric was her son’s best friend at Horace Mann High School in Gary, and she made the roast beef stretch enough to feed everyone. She would be his permanent lifetime godmother. They squeezed everyone tighter into the little house. At last he was home.
Deep enough love can conquer even privation.
But then …
Yes, his story always turns. This is not a tale of relentless urban perdition and a lost kid with nothing but faith in God and a bright mind. There was more.
If you know Wilmette businessman and fitness guru Eric Smoot now, even his friends will say there stands a man who knows where’s he’s going, a man with joy in his soul.
He was a runner who found the right path and took it — literally one long perfect stride at a time — to a better life.
By the time he stopped running for mentor Roosevelt Pulliam at Mann High School, he had won the Indiana State high school mile championship three straight years. He ran into the state’s prep athlete Hall of Fame. Purdue snapped him up with a scholarship, and he ran, eventually becoming an all-American. He ran a 4:01 mile once, and there aren’t many people on the entire planet who can do that. “Mr. Pulliam taught me how to be a man. What it means to act like a man,” he says.
He ran to a degree, and then to a business career.
So he ran from a life that might have trapped him. He’s not running away from anything now. He reached out for the life he wanted, and grabbed it.
Once his business partnership, Redefined Fitness, had taken hold, he figured it was time to return an act of faith. He went back to Gary 10 years ago, back to Judy Jemison, who had worked at the Ark shelter for homeless, battered women and their children.
As she often did, Jemison showed him how to share.
He would give children at the Ark and Rainbow transition shelters the Christmas they would never have without him. So he asked customers and friends in Wilmette if they’d like to help. The Christmas week haul requires a multi-vehicle caravan and helper elves of all sizes to deliver $25,000 worth of presents. He fulfills every last item on dozens of kids’ wish lists. There was cash to help moms get back on their feet.
Every year since, the caravan has hit the Santa road. “That’s about $250,000 worth of presents in 10 years,” he says. “Not bad.” Every year he expands how many shelters he adopts.
His arrival signals nearly hysterical joy for those who don’t know he is coming. There are tears, sobs of joy really. There are deep, loving hugs and children happier than anyone ever remembers them being.
“This is for mom,” he’ll say to siblings as he sneaks money to their mom. “You kids got to take care of her because you only have one mom.”
That particularly rings true now. Smoot’s mom has been free of drugs for 15 years, and he dotes on her. He is a man of open, unambiguous affections.
Smoot’s devotion to paying forward makes him sheepish sometimes because he knows it is he who gets the richest payback from those trips to Gary. He is giving himself the best Christmas present of all. “People in those shelters can lose everything, including their sense of dignity,” he says. “As for me, I’ve been blessed. Everything I went though made me who I am. I would not give up any of that.”
“People who know me will know how it makes me happy, joyful really, to see people being happy. It fulfills my soul. That’s what I do with the shelters. It’s how I work every day. Just make people happy every day. There aren’t many people who get to say that.”
His skill as a high-tech cross trainer and physical therapist has launched him to the top of the North Shore fitness pyramid. He’s trained many of the New Trier High School girls who won the state cross country title. But he fixes bad backs for middle-age sedentaries with equal enthusiasm.
But he’s all but given up the running that took him to a new life. “I have two great kids with my partner Jennifer Miller. Eric is 2 and Maya who is a baby. Most of my running is chasing them around. But they are why I work so hard.”
Still, when you’ve been as gifted a runner as Smoot was, yielding to age and physics is a grudge match. “Trying to run a 4:00 mile would be too hard now,” he says with a laugh. “But I sort of like the idea of turning 40, which I will this year and maybe running a sub five-minute mile.”
Yes, it appeals to him. Smoot has decided to live a large, joyful life with large, joyful goals. That’s hardly a surprise. And even Smoot admits he has barely hit his stride.
Here are some words shared about Eric Smoot:
Eric was a former client. A former shelter worker, Judy, took Eric into her home. Eric promised himself to give back. Donors to the shelter typically provide what they think our clients need. But not Eric, he is sincere in helping homeless individuals. Three years ago, he provided a copy machine to the shelter. Last year he paid for a bus to take our clients to a picnic in a park, and the mothers got to spend time working out in his health facility. When they returned, the mothers continued to workout in the shelter.
For the last eight years, Eric has asked for a list of what our clients really want for Christmas. Eric provides gifts for the children as well as their parents from pots and pans, to a purse, to a bike — anything on the list. Eric also gives the adults cash, which they use to pay off old bills. No less than $200 is given to each parent. Each family typically leaves with $800 worth of gifts. All told, Eric probably spends $20,000 a year on our clients.
Eric provides a positive male influence to young boys that they normally do not get throughout the year. At the shelter, our clients may reside with us for up to two years. Eric remembers the kids. As he personally delivers his gifts, he tells the boys his story and the obstacles he overcame. He tells them that regardless of being homeless, you have to be a productive citizen and asks them what they can do. If the same boy is still at the shelter the following year, Eric asks him whether the boy did what he promised to do the previous year. The boys say they want to be like Eric. He’s our personal Santa Claus.
RENITTA STOUT
Shelter Director of the Ark Shelter of Gary, Indiana
I met Eric at a conference 12 years ago. We have been business partners for 10 years. We are both trainers. We own the largest training facility on the North Shore with 350 active clients. When Eric found out about how he could help the shelter, he asked one of our clients for help. The help has expanded, and for the last 10 years as a club we have collected $20,000 to $25,000 of donations per year for the last 10 years. We also help deliver the donations. Typically five to 10 families ask to go with us for the delivery because they want to have their kids see what it means to give back.
We became business partners for many reasons. I wanted to go into business with someone who worked just as hard as me and shared the same passion to change people’s lives. We developed a deep friendship. Eric is great at what he does. He is very dependable. Eric is caring and works as hard as me so I chose him as a business partner.
I was humbled to hear about Eric’s background. He made me realize that when you come from adversity you develop the character traits of a person who is reliable and dependable. We have been able to stay together for 10 years in business because we have built trust. We hold each other accountable and keep out friendship separate.
What stands out about Eric is his dedication to family and work. He is a very giving person with a very giving heart. He makes a difference in his community. That’s huge. To give back, small or big. In today’s world you see a lot of stories about people giving back. But Eric doesn’t want personal attention. This is what we are supposed to do. Give back.
SILVIU GANSCA
Co-owner of Redefined Fitness
I started working with Eric, and his team, after my first cross-country season in seventh grade. Eric's program at ReDefined has helped me gain flexibility, helped me prevent injury and helped me have the strength to push through pain when I am racing. ReDefined's training program focuses on making me a better athlete, not just focusing on running. This way I can build many skills that will not only improve my running, but also allow me to use every part of my body when I run. The program at ReDefined makes their clients fitter and stronger. The people at ReDefined are energetic and nice to everyone who walks in. I'm lucky to have such great coaches at NTHS and access to Eric, Kevin Darling, and the team at ReDefined. During cross-country season my times for three miles were consistently between 17:00 and 18:00. My best time was 17:08.
MIMI SMITH,
Freshman, New Trier Township High School
(Currently ranked 4th in state)
Eric’s dynamic personality and genuinely caring nature make him a great motivator. He has versatility in his training style that enables him to transition his training strategies seamlessly while training people interested in recreational fitness and those striving to be elite athletes. His knowledge commands respect, but it is his engaging personality and ceaseless positivity that set him apart./
JOHN BURNSIDE
Varsity Coach of the Girls Cross Country Team, New Trier Township High School
I’ve been on the New Trier High School girls cross-county team and track team since my sophomore year. I went out for volleyball my freshman year, but my sister ran for cross-country her freshman year for Loyola, so I decided to give cross-country a try. I fell in love with running — the everyday challenge, the workouts, the races and the camaraderie among the teammates. There are approximately 220 girls on the cross-country team. I started working with Eric about a year ago before the start of track season. My parents work with Eric, and he would talk to them about running at Purdue. I started with private training, and now I do group training. With Eric I work on building my strength and flexibility. After each race, he calls and asks me how the race went, and what I can do better. For track last year, I ended up placing 15th in the state for the one-mile, and for the 4 x 8 relay, my team ranked 9th in state. This year for cross-country, I went from 93rd to 40th in state for the three-mile. Eric always tells me to stay positive.