An Indiana woman who found inner peace and her mission in life by running is changing the world one footstep at a time.

"I am not an elite runner. I am not a fast runner. I am just a person who knows that running can change so much," Judy Kupsik said.

Running has changed so much in Kupsik's life, but first there was so much pain.

"I lived a pretty quote-unquote normal life here in Highland. I had a pretty stable household growing up. … My mom was always sick, though, so that always caused a lot of fear and anxiety to build up within me," she said. "When you're filled with that much anxiety and fear, it has to go somewhere, and it can lead to dangerous things."

In Kupsik's case, it led to an alcohol addiction that began in her teens and went on for years.

"It was drinking to numb the pain, and to numb the hurt," she said.

In 2012, desperate to find her footing, she returned to a childhood hobby – running. At first it, was just for fun. Then it hit her.

"I felt good, and I'm like, 'You know what? I think I can do this. I think I can run a half marathon,'" she said. "So I did. I just went out and ran a half marathon."

She ran her first full marathon in Chicago in 2014 as her 13-year marriage was ending.

"There was just something inside of me that just needed to keep running and keep moving forward instead of backward into the pain and into the hurt," she said.

But that race wasn't enough.

"That high wore off very quickly, and I was still left seeking," she said. "All of a sudden, going to be a single mom. How was I going to do this? I was at the end of myself. Completely at the end of myself."

It all began to change on Christmas Eve 2014, when Kupsik walked into Faith Church in Highland.

"I knew about this church was here, but I had never been here before," she said. "The music and the message just broke through my heart, and I surrendered my life to God that night."

One Sunday in 2016, she heard about a church mission trip to help an orphanage in Haiti.

"I had never been out of the country before, but I want to go. I want to do that," she said. "I want to go help these kids if I can help these kids."

But first, she had to stop drinking, and she did with the help of a dedicated mentor. She took the trip to Haiti, and it had a profound impact.

"Haiti is one of the poorest countries in this Western Hemisphere. I had never seen anything like that before in my life. I literally held children in my arms, and I felt their bones in my hands where there should have been fat," she said. "This should not be like this. It shouldn't be happening. So, when I got back, that resolve of, like, 'What can I do in this world to help this?'"

In 2017, she joined the church running team, which raises funds for World Vision, a nonprofit that brings clean water and other resources to places that desperately need them.

"When clean water comes into a community, that's where everything starts to change; when people are no longer getting sick, when they no longer have to walk miles for dirty water," she said. "Moms are able to stay home or start small businesses and raise funds for their family."

Kupsik is determined to help make it all happen. This year, she ran the Chicago Marathon to raise funds for World Vision.

She also ran marathons in Fox Valley and in Nairobi, Kenya, to benefit Hope Mobility, a nonprofit which provides wheelchairs and other equipment for people in need. She did all three big runs in just 35 days.

On any given day, you can still find Kupsik pounding the pavement and finding grace.

"I will run for hours, no music, no other people with me; just me, my breath, my body, my surroundings, and it literally shuts everything off," she said. "Everything just stops, and it's just, like, this calm and this peace."