Running to Share my Story and Inspire others

I am an ultra-runner, so I tend to stick to the races others like to call “crazy”. The crazier the better is what I say! I am currently training for Zion 100 where I want to place in the top 5 (maybe even podium at top 3). In partnering with depression2extinction as one of their Ambassador Athletes I have the chance to represent a cause that I am extremely passionate about, as I have struggled with this for a major portion of my life.

d2e is a Non-Profit dedicated to erasing the stigma surrounding depression. Their mission statement, “Together, we can create a light in the darkness.” This in completely in alignment with my personal mission, and why I created my running brand Scheme (schemerunning@bigcartel.com). Running has been my vehicle to get out of that dark spot.

I run to stay sober and share my story with others to inspire them to do the same.

I was definitely not born a runner! I naturally built a bigger guy so I stuck to sports like wrestling and bodybuilding throughout my teenage years while living in Nashville, TN. In my late teens I began using drugs recreationally, but that quickly changed. By the time I was 20 I was down to way below average weight and was staying up for days at a time binging on drugs. I got to a really, really low point over the next couple years. Thanks to some close family and friends I got checked into rehab. From the age of 22-24 I was in and out of rehab. When I stepped foot on the trails though, everything changed. Trail running was my vehicle to purge all the anger, anxiety, depression, hatred, shame, and self loathing that I had built up over the previous years. Then I fell in love with it! I have my own running company called Scheme that focuses solely on this. We want to bring the community together to purge negativity and replace it with positivity, starting Scheme is what I do and one of the reasons why I moved to Boulder.

Never have I ever felt so confident and ready to take a challenge on.