Dcn. Doug Yglesias

Yglesias ministers in the streets through running

Running is appealing to people for a variety of reasons. Some run for the health benefits. Others run to relieve stress or bring on the endorphin-induced feeling of wellness. For Doug Yglesias and his wife, Lisa, running had an unusual appeal: ministry.

Yglesias has run more than 30 marathons in locations from Boston to Atlanta, including Columbus.

“Lisa and I weren’t fast runners, but what resonated with us was the opportunity we had to minister to other runners,” he said. “Running was helping people get off the couch and get healthy. When you’re training for a marathon, you have many miles to talk, and a lot of times, we had talks about faith. When we lived in Miami, you had every religion and it was a really neat place to just minister to people who may never go to church.

“One time I was out running with a gentleman who had lymphoma. He said he was Jewish and he had a hard time thinking there was anything after life,” Yglesias said. “On another run, we spent half of a marathon discussing whether Jesus existed. Sometimes it’s not about talking about Jesus, but it’s about loving people where they’re at that makes them want to seek more about that faith. We’ve seen several people end up attending church and getting their kids baptized. It’s kind of neat.”

While full marathons haven’t been on his agenda lately – his most recent race being a half-marathon with one of his four children, a daughter, in Cleveland – he continues to lace up and hit the road.

“With my daughter, running is an incredible time to talk and catch up,” Yglesias said. “When I’m out by myself, it’s my time to talk with God. I see God in nature.”

Yglesias, who has been a parish youth minister and a teacher and assistant principal in Catholic schools, said he realized at age 16 that there is a God who loves him, which resulted in his attending a seminary for a time. His family was affected by that, with his father becoming a deacon for the Archdiocese of Miami.

“My dad has a passion for Benediction and Exposition that has become a passion of mine,” he said. “I have an incredible love for the Blessed Sacrament and Perpetual Adoration.”

That led to Yglesias starting a Eucharistic adoration group, Adoremus, at his parish, Sunbury St. John Neumann. 

“The passion to serve the Lord has been planted on my heart since I was 16 and I’ve been looking to continue to do that ever since,” he said. “The parish I went to growing up in Miami had a youth group and Perpetual Adoration, and it was such a neat experience to be able to go as a teenager, when you have super highs and super lows. It was a good place to be at peace.

“There was this tangible experience of being in the presence of God. When we added singing and praise and worship, there’s something very powerful about praising God in the presence of the Eucharist. We would pray for people who would stop by. A peace comes over them. You’ve got to love them where they’re at.”