Our Story

Hey there, I’m Austin!

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE was founded in 2021 as a way to bring together the community, to build new relationships, and to bring awareness to the trauma of mental health, and aim towards eradicating the stigmas that surround mental health and suicide. We believe that through running and other endurance activities we can help achieve these goals as a community.

My first endeavor was a 24 hour run that encouraged tough conversations about mental health illnesses, suicide prevention and other unspoken hardships that individuals face silently everyday, and I called my project, “Run For Your Life”. As we embarked into another year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I realized the magnitude of mental health issues within our community and throughout the world. As someone who has suffered with depression most of my adolescent and adult life, I have found that running is an outlet for me and represents a unique symbolism between running and mental health that ties together physical and emotional sacrifice and strength. My mental and physical wellness and willingness to ask for help has dramatically improved through these physical pursuits and I hope to share with others what running offers me.

Since, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE has organized an annual Suicide Awareness run and walk in downtown Lake Stevens, WA, where we give space for the community to gather on common ground to bring awareness, inspire hope, and to raise resources for a better and healthier tomorrow.

In 2021, our first annual race brought in over 300 registered runners and over $20,000 to help build the Run For Your Life Foundation. On the heels of this successful event, The Run For Your Life Foundation has been established as a Washington State registered Non-Profit Organization, and we recently were approved for tax-exempt 501(c)3 status with the IRS. We’re excited to see where the next year leads us and look forward to the impact we can make on the lives of members of our community. None of this would be possible without your support.

Just like running 1 mile or for 24 hours straight, life is tough. Really tough. It’s full of sacrifices, mistakes, aches, pains, and times when we want to throw up our white flag and pull ourselves out of the race. Run For Your Life is here to show you that you too can take the next step forward when it gets hard and rise above the dark times.

You can keep moving forward.

I can’t wait to meet you!

- Austin Johnson | Founder