The heart of our Durham YMCA is our members, volunteers and staff. So many special people work behind the scenes and on unique schedules to keep our YMCA running. And those same people have inspiring stories beyond their time at the Y. We're so pleased to spotlight just one of those invaluable members of our Y family:
Neville Redwood, better known as "Wood," started his Y journey in 2006 when he decided, cold turkey, to quit drinking and smoking. He describes himself as having an addictive personality (you’ll learn why) and he knew he wanted better for his future. When he decided to make this dramatic change, he needed a distraction, so he joined the Durham YMCA and turned his focus to working out. He spent 2-3 hours/day at the Y. At the time, Wood worked for the city of Durham and had years of experience working with pools. Becoming a regular at the Y, he got to know Aquatic Directors, Tom and Stanley very well and would joke about how he could manage a pool better than them. Wood’s joke backfired on him because Tom was very intrigued by Wood’s knowledge and invited him to discuss his qualification and eventually invited him to be part of the Y team part-time. “Tom really believed in me” Wood mentioned.
His obsession with working out started at the Y and his first competition with himself was participating in the Northern High School Glory Night bench press competition. After winning the competitions, he was ready for a new challenge.
In 2011, Wood regularly joined the Ys Bootcamp class. His competitiveness got to him when he was getting frustrated with people beating him during the run portion, so he decided to take an interest in running. A year later he completed his first competitive run, the Tar Heel 10-Miler. The following year, he completed his first half marathon – Tobacco Road.
Throughout his running journey, he gained lifelong friendships. He joined a group called Black Man Run which he still engages with. The group of guys meet once/week in different locations and run the streets of Durham. Wood also goes on weekly runs starting from the Y with his buddy, William. With this strong community, Wood felt ready to take his running to the next level.
In 2018 he signed up to run the Miami Marathon. He had three goals going into it: Finish under 4:00:00, Qualify for the Boston Marathon, and Finish. He finished at 3:40:00! Although you would think he was pleased and that the story ends here, well, it doesn’t. Wood took the news back to William and explained that his time didn’t sit well with him. William encouraged him to sign up for the Tobacco Road Marathon. With 8 weeks to train and little hesitation, Wood signed up. During the race, with 5 miles to go, he began to cramp. He was certain that his walk/run was not going to allow him to hit his goal of breaking 3:30:00. With 2 miles to go, a fellow runner ran with him and encouraged him until he reached the finish line with a time of 3:21:00!
You must have thought that was it. Wrong again! In 2016 Wood found cycling. He added it to his mix of workouts and hobbies. He recently competed the Sea Gull Central Ride in Maryland which was a 100-mile bike on the road. He finished in 5 hours.
Outside of his personal achievements, Wood pours his heart into the Durham Ys. He helped open the pool at Hope Valley Farms Y when the branch opened in 2013, he helps manage it off-season and he still works as a lifeguard 15+ hours/week on top of his full-time job. “He is always willing to help” says Stanley.
When asking him if he was taking time off from work this holiday season, he responded with "This is not work to me, this is home.”
Thank you for your 13+ years of service with the Durham YMCAs, Wood!
