Team Still I Run Heads to the Windy City

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon—established in 1977—has grown in size significantly since its inaugural year. This year,  over 50,000 runners will take on the course alongside elite marathoners like John Korir and Mergertu Alemu.

15 members of Team Still I Run from all across the country will give their very best to raise awareness for mental health. Meet some of them now!

Meet Olivia

Olivia Leonard is running the Chicago Marathon in honor of her mom, Amy, who died by suicide four years ago on October 11, 2021. Olivia saw the marathon—which takes place on October 12 this year—as the perfect way to remember her.

Oliva started running a few years ago after coming home from college for the summer and wanting a mental health outlet that didn’t have a membership cost. With a bit of practice and consistency, she started to see her times decrease and her miles increase.

"It became part of my routine, and every day it brought me a sense of joy to accomplish something."

Last fall, she ran her first half-marathon and decided that she wanted to keep progressing in her running. Olivia is a person with a "go big or go home" mindset, and the thought of running one of the seven world major marathons was exciting to her. With no success in the lottery system (we've all been there), she moved on to running for a charity that aligned with her values, leading her to Still I Run.

Olivia and her mom, Amy, with the Chicago skyline in the background

"I posted about wanting to run in honor of my mom and the outreach of love and support for this cause. It's made me stop and think about how such a bad situation that I felt like I could never mentally recover from has turned into something being used for good."

As if the remembrance of her mom wasn't enough to make this marathon special for Olivia, her aunt lives in Chicago, and Olivia grew up visiting her.

She said that she always feels closer to her mom when she visits her aunt and looks forward to visiting the city to run the marathon and spend time together as a family.

We're so inspired by Olivia and her story, and we can't wait to have her on Team Still I Run!

Meet Jaimy

Jaimy Chadam found running as a sanctuary after graduating from college. He was living in New York City, working 100-hour weeks, and decided he needed to make a change in his life. He grew up playing soccer, so running had always been part of his life, but after watching the New York City Marathon, he knew that was what he wanted to do for himself.

Jaimy started going on runs every few days. Despite the long hours at work and the mental exhaustion that comes with it, he found himself feeling better and more connected to the people around him.

After some big life changes and a few years of being less active, Jaimy decided to immerse himself fully back into running. He went searching for a charity that he could run for that was specifically supportive of mental health awareness, which was how he found Still I Run.

The Chicago Marathon will be Jaimy's second time running for Still I Run’s mission, having fundraised for us when running the Dublin Marathon last year.

"I think that having gone through the marathon last year with Still I Run and not having been a bit more active in supporting the organization, I have more motivation to train in support of the cause."

Jaimy has a special passion for the mental health of athletes. He comes from a family of college athletes and has noticed a gap in support for athletes who are injured. "I love the idea that Still I Run is about that motivation to do something. The benefit of Still I Run is this notion of still, of persistence." He hopes that by running for Team Still I Run and by raising awareness of the cause, more athletes are inspired to continue trying to recover, mentally and physically.

Welcome to Team Still I Run, Jaimy. We're so excited to have you!

Meet Cristian

Cristian Bing-Capiraso wasn't a runner until he woke up one day and decided he was going to run a marathon. He'd never run more than three miles before, but as he went through some life changes, he was looking for something productive to do with his time.

Cristian's uncle, Michael, is the chairperson for Still I Run's Board of Directors and has run 36 marathons, so Cristian has had a lot of exposure to the running world throughout his life. He ran his first marathon eighteen months ago and is just getting started.

Cristian considers himself lucky not to have had many struggles with mental health. He runs with Still I Run for other people in his life who have struggled.

"It feels good to be able to run and raise money in honor of them. It fuels my runs with a sense of purpose."

Three people in Cristian's life have died from causes related to poor mental health, which has only fueled him in his mission to raise awareness. Two of his fraternity brothers, within eight months of each other, and one of his best friend's sisters turned to drug use in an attempt to combat their mental health struggles. All three of them unfortunately passed as a result, and Cristian runs in honor of them.

Not only will Cristian be joining Team Still I Run in Chicago, but he's also part of the Tokyo team that will run in the spring of 2026.

"I'm on a journey to run all the world majors, and I hope to run as many of them as I can for Still I Run as they continue to grow and offer charity bibs at more races."

Cristian is looking forward to the weekend in Chicago coming up, as he takes on the course in the Windy City and catches up with some friends who live in the area. 

Welcome to the team, Cristian! We're happy to have you.

Meet Tricia

For Tricia Fortin, Still I Run has been part of her running journey from the beginning. She has a good friend who volunteers as an ambassador and learned about our organization through her.

Over the years, Tricia tried to pick up running many times. In 2021, she joined our May Runstreak after her friend posted about it on Facebook, and that was the true beginning of her running journey.

"I didn't run every day, I didn't even walk every day, but that was how I got started. From there, it finally clicked."

Her biggest motivation for joining our cause to run for mental health is her daughter, who struggles with anxiety and depression. She wanted to become a better advocate for her daughter and be emboldened to speak up about mental health and break the stigma.

As Tricia fundraises for the Chicago Marathon, she's been amazed to learn how many people are on a similar journey to her and her daughter. She's had people reach out to her to share their stories, saying that they also have a son or daughter who struggles, and they feel helpless to support them.

"It's been really cool and really affirming and encouraging and inspiring to hear other people's stories and just know none of us are alone. We all struggle, and if we don't, we know someone who does, or maybe it's both."

Tricia has also seen improvement in her own mental health. She's quiet about her own struggles and oftentimes masks them with energy, but as she continues running and being involved with Still I Run, she's found that running lifts her spirits.

"Being able to do something that I've never been able to do before has lifted my spirits so much and made me feel so much stronger than ever before."

The Chicago Marathon will be Tricia's first full marathon, and we are so excited to have her join us on Team Still I Run!

Meet Chad

Chad Zimmerman and his wife started getting active in 2014, before starting their family, but running wasn't a part of Chad's life outside of sports until his friend asked him to run a 5K in 2015. After being bribed with an NHL All-Star game after the 5K, he agreed.

Chad had no idea how long a 5K was or what to expect from himself, as he was still new to his fitness journey.

"I put my nose to the grindstone and transitioned my training to more running and saw a lot of the extra weight start to shed. Lo and behold, I was able to run the whole 5K, and then I got hooked."

His running journey had ebbed and flowed as life events have come up. Chad has faced barriers like injuries and COVID, and has also had big, exciting moments like having kids that have put pauses on his running throughout the years. He's been back to running consistently since August of 2022 and looks forward to continuing to improve.

For Chad, running is the one time of day that is truly his time and gives him time to reflect.

"I'm a morning runner, preferably, so it gives me that time to reflect on the day before and consider what went well or what I could've handled better. It's a Monday morning quarterback kind of thing. You can never truly run all the stress and problems away, but you can use the time to process."

Chad also stresses the importance of running to "prop up" your self-confidence. He sees a lot of value in choosing to do a hard thing every day as a means of self-improvement. Because of this, he started running marathons. The Chicago Marathon will be Chad's third marathon, and he decided he wanted to do some good with it, which was how he was introduced to Still I Run.

"It was a bit of a fluke that I stumbled across Still I Run, but it was the perfect fit for my fundraising and has kept me motivated through my training process."

Chad is feeling strong headed into the marathon weekend, and we're so happy to have him on Team Still I Run!

Where to Watch

To watch Team Still I Run take on the Chicago Marathon, stream it on NBC Chicago or Telemundo Chicago. Keep an eye on Still I Run's social media accounts for updates on our runners, too!