By San Diego and Chicago Manager Chelsey Stone
Sasha Wolff is the founder and executive director for Still I Run, a nonprofit organization that promotes the benefits of running for mental health. This May, City Fit Tours is donating 10% of our proceeds to this incredible organization. We’ve partnered with Still I Run for numerous events (like a Marine Corps Marathon shakeout and shakeout runs in NYC) in our cities and are delighted to do so again.
Sasha’s Story
“I was hospitalized for depression and anxiety in 2011. When I was there, they taught me I have a chronic illness that needs to be managed. The other thing they taught was developing a healthy habit to go in your mental health toolkit, if you will,” Sasha said when she spoke with us last month.
Her parents were runners growing up. Sasha realized, “They modeled this healthy behavior. I figured, I've run on and off before, I guess I could try this out. So when I was discharged from the hospital the next day, I took my dog for a walk, jog, slog, whatever you want to call it. When I got back, I felt a little better, not just because I went outside but because there are all these physiological things happening in your body when you're moving. I felt this huge sense of accomplishment as well. The next day, I went a little longer and I kept going longer and faster. Eventually it occurred to me that running for mental health needed to be a permanent part of my mental health toolkit.”
Sasha lives in the Grand Rapids area home to a strong running community, so she figured it would be easy to find a group of people who ran for mental health. But when she couldn’t find one locally she expanded her search county–, state–, and countrywide. Still she found nothing. “It shocked me because I know lots of people run for mental health. So why wasn't there a group that was established to promote that? I figured if there was nothing out there I may as well do it myself.”
She started with a Facebook page, which is still active today, and “then a really poorly designed website I made by myself with my story: why I ran, about my hospitalization, and just being really vulnerable about the whole thing.”
People started reaching, saying they also run for mental health. People asked how to get involved, what kind of events there were, where they could donate. Sasha realized there was a real need for an organization the focused on running for mental health. On mental World Mental Health Day, October 10 2016, Sasha met this need by creating a nonprofit.
Still I Run
Still I Run is the only organization that works nationwide to promote the benefits of and provides programming for running for mental health.
The organization has a number of different programs, including:
The Ambassador Program has over 200 Ambassadors throughout the country this year. “We're all about promoting the stories of individuals who run for mental health. They wear our gear, get access to quarterly mental health chats, we offer them free suicide prevention training and certification.”
Chapter Programs connect people with other mental health running warriors. While Still I Run’s community is big online, this gives people a way to connect face to face. There are 12 chapters across the country.
The Starting Line Scholarship helps people overcome any barriers they may have to run for mental health. There are three different application periods a year, and people from all around the country can apply. Once accepted, they receive all the gear they need to run for mental health. “We had one individual indicate they needed an adult jogging stroller for their disabled son because if she couldn't take him she couldn't run.
Sasha said, “My dream is to make Still I Run a national movement, make running for mental health as normal as running for your physical health.”
If you’d like to connect to Still I Run, the easiest way is their Facebook page. Their online presence is large and active, so be sure to check them out there.
