How Two Friends Turned Grief Into Community Through Still I Run

Jennifer and Jaclyn live on the same street in Florham Park. Their kids are the same ages, and for years, they knew each other through neighborhood life, mom groups, school events, and the everyday routines that naturally bring families together. They had always been friends, but over the last year, running became the thing that connected them on an entirely different level. Now, the two are the chapter captains of the Florham Park chapter of Still I Run, creating a space where people can move their bodies, talk openly about mental health, and feel less alone.

The Runs That Changed Everything

Their running friendship really began in the spring of 2025 after Jennifer completed the NYC Half Marathon. At a neighborhood gathering shortly afterward, Jennifer showed up wearing her race shirt, and the two started talking more seriously about running and races. Jaclyn already knew Jennifer was a runner because she regularly saw her heading down the street for early morning miles. Jaclyn had once been a dedicated runner herself, completing 12 half marathons before stepping away from the sport for nearly a decade. Watching Jennifer train for the full NYC Marathon later that fall inspired her to start running again.

At first, Jaclyn was not training for a race herself. She simply started waking up early to join Jennifer on her long runs. Those miles quickly became part workout, part therapy session, and part friendship ritual. The two joke that they spent those runs “solving all the world’s problems” together. For Jaclyn, having someone there removed so much of the pressure that had previously made returning to running feel intimidating. She said Jennifer made it easy because she could simply follow her lead and focus on showing up instead of worrying about pace or performance.

Somewhere during those runs, Jennifer jokingly “tricked” Jaclyn into applying for marathon lotteries. She encouraged her to enter Berlin and Chicago and started planting the idea of eventually running New York together, too. Ironically, Jennifer ended up being rejected from all the lotteries herself, while Jaclyn received an acceptance into the Chicago Marathon on December 11, 2025.

Grief That Impacted an Entire Community

That moment came only weeks after Jaclyn’s husband died by suicide in November 2025.

The loss devastated not only Jaclyn, her children, and their friends and family, but their entire community. The night it happened, friends had all been gathered together celebrating Friendsgiving. Everyone had been laughing, talking, and enjoying time together. After the night ended and everyone had gone home, the unimaginable happened. Jennifer says the loss rippled through every part of their community because it affected so many people who loved Jaclyn’s husband and cared deeply about their family.

In the immediate aftermath, Jennifer was constantly by Jaclyn’s side. She remembers one moment from that very first night that has stayed with her ever since. Jaclyn looked at her and said, “I don’t want to be alone.”

“That has always stuck with me,” Jennifer shared.

Jaclyn wasn’t alone. Jennifer showed up every day in the weeks and months that followed, and together, the two kept running. Not because running magically fixed grief or made the pain disappear, but because movement gave them something steady to hold onto when everything else felt uncertain. On the morning of her husband’s wake, Jennifer and Jaclyn went for a run together. Jaclyn says she never would have gone by herself, but having someone there beside her helped her process what was happening and gave her a small sense of stability in the middle of unimaginable loss.

“That really set the tone for running through the grief,” Jaclyn said.

Running Through the Hardest Moments

Running became one of the few things that still felt familiar. Some days the runs involved deep conversations about grief, life, and what came next. Other days they just ran. But the act of continuing to show up for those runs mattered. Jaclyn says running became something she could always rely on, especially when so much of life suddenly felt unpredictable.

“It’s something that is always there,” she said. “I can always do it, and it’s always better with a friend.”

Both women also talked about how grief impacts even the most basic forms of self-care. When someone is grieving, simple things like eating, sleeping, and drinking enough water can suddenly feel impossible. Jennifer and Jaclyn found that running forced them to continue caring for themselves physically, even during moments when emotional exhaustion made that difficult.

“When you’re grieving, you don’t feel hunger,” they explained. “You don’t want to eat. You don’t want to drink water. You don’t want to sleep.”

But if they wanted to keep running and physically feel okay during those runs, they had to fuel themselves. They had to hydrate. They had to rest. Running became one of the things that forced them to continue caring for their bodies and minds, even when life felt like it was falling apart around them.

“It forces self-care,” Jennifer said.

Why Still I Run Felt Different

Mental health had always mattered deeply to both women, but after Jaclyn’s loss, the mission of Still I Run felt even more personal. As Jennifer searched for marathon charity teams after missing out on the lottery system herself, she stumbled across Still I Run. Chicago’s Team Still I Run spots had already filled, so Jennifer ultimately joined another charity team for the race, but the more the two women learned about Still I Run’s programs, run chapters, and focus on mental health through movement, the more they felt connected to the organization.

What stood out most to them was the honesty behind the mission. Still I Run was not pretending mental health struggles did not exist, nor was it treating people like they were broken. Instead, it created welcoming spaces where people could show up authentically and support one another through movement and connection.

“It’s so much more than a regular run club,” Jaclyn said.

Jennifer especially connected with the organization’s openness around mental health conversations and the way it normalizes emotional well-being alongside physical well-being.

“Everyone has some form of physical health, which means that they also have some form of mental health,” Jennifer said. “If you have one, you have the other. You can’t ignore half of what makes you a person.”

She talked about how many people silently carry emotional pain because it is invisible to the people around them. People often move through life pretending everything is okay while privately struggling. For Jennifer, that is exactly why organizations like Still I Run matter so much. They create spaces where people are allowed to talk honestly about what they are carrying and where taking care of your mental and emotional well-being is viewed as just as important as taking care of your physical health.

Building the Florham Park Chapter

At first, Jennifer and Jaclyn looked into joining another nearby Still I Run chapter, but none of the locations felt particularly convenient for their community. Eventually, they stopped waiting for something closer to exist and decided to create it themselves.

The Florham Park chapter officially launched on April 13, 2026, with seven people attending the very first meetup. Since then, the chapter has continued growing through twice-weekly meetups with runs on Mondays and walks on Wednesdays. The walks are intentionally dog-friendly and kid-friendly, creating a welcoming environment for families, walkers, runners, beginners, and longtime athletes alike.

That inclusivity matters deeply to both of them. They did not want to create an intimidating running group focused on pace, mileage, or performance. They wanted to create a community where people felt comfortable simply showing up. Some people come because they love running. Some come because they need support. Some come because they are struggling. Some come because they are lonely. All of those reasons are enough.

For Jennifer and Jaclyn, the chapter represents the thing they both needed during difficult moments in their own lives: people willing to keep showing up beside you.

“Jaclyn said she didn’t want to be alone,” Jennifer said. “Now it’s our job to make sure other people don’t feel alone either.”

Looking Ahead Together

Their own running journey together is still continuing, too. Jennifer and Jaclyn are both preparing to run the 2027 Tokyo Marathon with Team Still I Run as part of their larger goal of completing the original six World Marathon Majors together. By 2027, they will have completed four of the six, with hopes of finishing the final two by 2028.

Somewhere along the way, though, the goal became about more than medals or marathon finishes. Running became the thing that carried them through grief, strengthened their friendship, reminded them to care for themselves, and ultimately allowed them to create community for others.

What started as two neighbors going out for early morning runs has become something much larger than either of them expected: a place where people can move together, talk honestly, and know they do not have to carry life’s hardest moments alone.