It is with great sadness that we report that Ronnie Goodman died on August 14, 2020, at the age of 60. The local community took time to remember him in the wake of his passing.
Ronnie Goodman, a homeless artist with an inspirational story, finished the San Francisco Half Marathon on Sunday and raised close to $10,000 for Hospitality House, a charity that helped him pursue a career as an artist.
The 54-year-old Goodman ran the second half of the San Francisco Marathon course and averaged just under 8:00/mile pace to finish in 1:43:34.
"It was great," Goodman told Runner's World Newswire. "I had a really good start, but I think I got overheated because it was cold for the first 40 minutes and then all of a sudden, the sun came out."
A day after his run, Goodman said he isn't sore and is ready to hit a trail near the Marin Headlands for a 15-mile training run with a friend on Wednesday.
During the race, he thought about his pacing, which he thought was around 7:30/mile for the first 40 minutes, but was actually closer to 7:15.
"As a runner I kind of got into that running mode," Goodman said. "You start to feel the heat and burn in your body, but you have to overcome those feelings and try to make it to the finish line."
For two years, Goodman has been sleeping in a tent under Highway 101 in San Francisco, creating art in a rented studio, and running.
In April, the San Francisco Chronicle published a story about Goodman and his desire to run the half marathon. Readers soon reached out to him, paying his $120 entry fee for the half marathon, while another gave him a voucher to purchase a new pair of running shoes.
A month later, race organizers took notice of Goodman and set up a web page called “Run With Ronnie” to allow people to donate. For a donation of at least $10, people received a raffle ticket to win a painting that Goodman created for the race. According to the Chronicle, 300 people bought at least one entry in to the raffle. The winner of Goodman's painting was a man from West Virginia. Hospitality House has not yet released the man's name, or the exact amount raised in the raffle.
The painting depicts Goodman running down Marcus Street, and past the Hospitality House, with a peaceful-looking man playing a stand-up bass. The man represents the euphoria Goodman feels while running and listening to music, Goodman said. Other things included in the painting are pride flags because Goodman liked the color of them, a man recycling to show how many of San Francisco's homeless make ends meet and a man sweeping the street.
"I just try to paint those images I see in a beautiful way, even though there's a hard edge," said Goodman, who wanted to show the grittiness of living in San Francisco. "Life can be extremely hard."
Lark Ryan, marketing manager of the San Francisco Marathon, said people who went to a pre-race expo Saturday night, when Hospitality House selected the winner, loved the painting.
"All of the runners were really inspired by what he created," Ryan told Newswire. "He captured San Francisco in a way that many runners could relate to."
While a marathon is his ultimate goal, Goodman says it will depend on how his body feels. He is already planning on running another half marathon with a $3 entry fee on a course near Lake Merced.
Goodman is on a wait list for subsidized housing, and could be for another three to four months. Goodman said he will soon get on another list for housing.
Goodman's art career is seeing more success. He has a piece in a local art show, called "Bay Area Now," at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and recently launched his website so people can buy his work online. He said he hasn't sold any paintings this year, but has previously sold five or six prints and had offers on some more.
Goodman said he received a lot of support from those running the marathon and was happy he could spread awareness of Hospitality House.
"It's so powerful to know that somebody like me could help," Goodman said. "I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be — as an artist and a runner — a voice for Hospitality House and the people that go there. There's just a lot more feelings I can't really describe.
"I feel like I found my purpose in life — to keep running, stay positive, and show all the love I can to the people in my situation."
Austin Schempp grew up running near mountains in Loveland, Colorado, and stayed near mountains in college as a journalism student at the University of Montana in Missoula. His main passion is writing feature stories, especially when crazy, inspirational runners are involved. A huge fan of the Pacific Northwest and rainy weather, he’s always ready to run, hike, or travel to a new place.
