Running With Her Heart: Lauren De León's Team Still I Run Journey

Lauren De León has a lot competing for her time. She’s a mom of two young children, a first responder wife, and a project manager in the government sector. Most days, she says it feels like she has three full-time jobs, even though technically she only has one.

Still, Lauren finds time to run whenever she can. She runs during marathon training, of course, but she also keeps running when there isn’t a race on the calendar. Over the years, she has learned how much movement helps her stay in a good place mentally, and making time for it has become an important part of taking care of herself.

Her relationship with running goes back to one of the hardest periods of her life. Ten years ago this year, Lauren’s mother died by suicide. In the aftermath of that loss, running became one of the ways Lauren learned to live with her grief.

Finding Running Through Grief

When Lauren talks about the time after her mom died, she remembers recognizing that grief could take her down very different paths. She could turn toward habits that helped her cope, or she could find herself relying on things that might make an already painful time even harder.

Running became the healthier outlet she needed. It gave her time alone with her thoughts and somewhere to put the emotions she was carrying. There were days when she would run until her body hurt and her brain finally quieted down. The miles gave her a break from everything happening in her head, even if it was temporary.

Over time, something shifted. Lauren wasn’t only running to get through grief anymore. She had fallen in love with running itself. She started signing up for as many 5Ks as she could, then worked her way up to 10Ks and half marathons. Running became a steady part of her life through changing seasons, a growing family, a busy career, and the milestones and anniversaries that came with losing her mom.

This year, she decided to take on a distance she had never attempted before: the marathon.

Finding Still I Run

Lauren first discovered Still I Run through Instagram. She had raised money for other suicide prevention and awareness organizations in the past, and a Still I Run post caught her attention. After hearing founder Sasha Wolff’s story and learning more about the organization, Lauren felt an immediate connection.

At first, she simply planned to donate. Then she realized Still I Run had an endurance racing program.

For someone whose mental health journey had become so closely connected to running, Team Still I Run brought together two parts of Lauren’s life that already meant so much to her. Running had helped carry her through the loss of her mom, and now she could use running to raise money for a mental health organization and help create that sense of support for other people.

Still I Run is a national nonprofit that promotes running and movement as tools for supporting mental health and well-being. Our work is centered on making movement accessible, creating community, and reminding people that they don’t have to navigate their mental health journeys alone. Team Still I Run is one way that mission comes to life, giving runners the opportunity to participate in endurance events while fundraising and advocating for mental well-being.

For Lauren, what started with an Instagram post quickly became much more personal.

“Still I Run has become a huge part of me,” she said.

From One Marathon to Three

Lauren ran her first marathon this year at Grandma’s Marathon as part of Team Still I Run. After years of building from 5Ks to 10Ks and half marathons, she finally got to find out what 26.2 miles felt like.

She could have stopped there and called her first marathon year a success. Instead, she decided to take on two more. Lauren is also running the New York City Marathon and London Marathon with Team Still I Run, putting her well on her way toward another long-term goal: completing all of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

“We can do hard things,” she said.

Of the three races, New York carries a particularly deep meaning. New York was her mother’s home, and Lauren will be running the marathon during the year that marks a decade since her mom’s death. She describes several things surrounding her acceptance into the race as feeling serendipitous, almost as though this was a race she was supposed to run.

She isn’t approaching New York with a finish time at the top of her priority list. This race is about experiencing the city, honoring her mom, and allowing herself to feel everything that comes with running those 26.2 miles.

“For New York, I just want to enjoy it because it’s such a meaningful race for me, and I’ll really be running with my heart this time,” Lauren said. “This one I think is going to hit me emotionally.”

Sharing Her Story Through Fundraising

Lauren’s connection to Team Still I Run extends well beyond race day. Fundraising has given her another way to turn her experience into something that can help other people, and she quickly learned how powerful it can be to simply tell people why the cause matters to her.

For Grandma’s Marathon, Lauren started by sending text messages to friends and family. She shared what she was doing, asked for their support, and reached her entire fundraising goal within one week. When she began fundraising for the New York City Marathon, she reached that goal in two weeks.

She credits much of that response to being willing to share the personal story behind the miles. Talking about losing her mom to suicide requires vulnerability, but Lauren knows her story has the potential to reach someone who needs to hear it. The fundraising total matters, but the possibility that someone might hear her story and feel less alone matters even more.

“If ONE PERSON can hear my story and feel worthy of staying on this Earth, it’s all worth it,” she said.

That kind of honest storytelling fits naturally within the Still I Run community. We intentionally creates space for lived experiences and recognizes the role that community can play in helping people feel seen, understood, and supported. Running is part of that work, but the goal has never been athletic performance. Movement is a tool for mental well-being, while the relationships formed around it can help reduce stigma and create connection.

Lauren knows she cannot change what happened to her mom. What she can do is use her experience to advocate for people who may be struggling now.

“I want to hold and hug and help anybody who thinks that suicide might be an option,” she said.

A Community That Keeps Growing

Three Team Still I Run races might sound like plenty for one year, but Lauren is already thinking about how she can become even more involved. She and another Team Still I Run member are interested in starting a Still I Run Run Chapter in Orlando, giving people in their own community a place to connect through running and mental health.

It would be another step in a relationship with Still I Run that began with a social media post and has grown into a meaningful part of Lauren’s life. She has found that the organization gives her more than races to train for or fundraising goals to reach. It has also given her a community that understands why mental health and movement can be so deeply connected.

That support has been especially meaningful as Lauren has navigated the anniversaries and milestones surrounding her mom’s death. Grief changes over time, but it doesn’t follow a schedule or disappear once enough years have passed. A significant anniversary, a marathon in her mom’s home city, or another milestone can bring different emotions to the surface.

“Still I Run has been really helpful for me in processing anniversaries and milestones,” Lauren said.

Still I Run approaches mental health in much the same way: as something ongoing rather than something with a clear finish line. Progress can mean starting, restarting, slowing down, continuing, or simply showing up in whatever way you can that day. For Lauren, that idea has played out across years of running, from the first miles she used to cope with grief to the marathon starting lines she stands on today.

Running Toward Something Bigger

Lauren’s dream is to eventually run all of the World Marathon Majors, but her goals have grown beyond collecting medals or checking races off a list. She wants to keep telling her story, keep raising money, help build community in Orlando, and use her experience to make a difference for people who may be facing their own dark moments.

“I want to do something massive,” she said, “and this feels like a really good stepping stone.”

Her journey is a reminder that something massive can begin with something as ordinary as putting on a pair of running shoes. Lauren started running because she needed somewhere to put her grief. One run led to another, then to 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons and eventually her first marathon. Along the way, running became something she loved and something she could use to support other people.

This November, Lauren will stand at the starting line of the New York City Marathon wearing Team Still I Run across her chest. She’ll run through the city her mom once called home during a year that already carries so much meaning. There will be 26.2 miles ahead of her, but this race represents a journey that began long before she ever signed up for a marathon.

This one, as Lauren said, she’ll run with her heart.