Why I’m a 437 Project Runner

It's 437 miles across South Dakota – that's the significance of the 437 Project relay-style run.

Twelve runners in September will tackle the weather and terrain in a run across the state of South Dakota aiming to bring awareness for suicide prevention. The goal is for runners to connect with communities and foster important conversations while also raising money for the Helpline Center.

Two of those runners participating are staff at Avera and they’re trading their scrubs for sweats to help make a difference.

Jonathan Buchanan, MD has been putting on some extra miles as he prepares to run in the 437 Project.

“Every morning I run a mile and a half to work and every night I run a mile and a half home, and the last couple weeks I’ve increased that to three to five miles, a little extra loop as I get to work and I leave a little early and try to get home on time,” said Buchanan, Avera orthopedics and sports medicine physician.

The Link Between Exercise and Mental Health

As a sports medicine doc, he knows that physical health can play an important role in your mental health.

“If you get up and walk across the room, you’re brain releases endorphins, those endorphins are natural painkillers. You feel better, it’s better for your mental health and mental energy, and it helps with pain control,” said Buchanan. “You can translate that stress into energy, so running, cycling, swimming, whatever it takes.”

He’s enjoyed running for many years, and is now using that passion to help share an important message.

“I realized that there’s a lot more that goes into it than simply running across the state,” said Buchanan. “Being aware of mental illness and being aware of the problem of suicide and suicide prevention and how much society and family can be impacted by mental illness.”

And he’s even planning to run his sections of the run barefoot.

“Part of that is because I want my feet to be strong and part of it is almost symbolic, so when I’m running barefoot, I feel every rock, every twig, even thorns, and so forth I get in my feet. It feels really raw, it feels exposed and I feel like that is what people with depression deal with. They kind of feel every bump in life, and every rock and every stick and they don’t have the ability to bounce through it like the rest of us can. They don’t have thick soles on their feet. So, if I feel everything, I know they’re feeling everything, and it’s more powerful to me,” said Buchanan.

Pierre Provider Sees People Facing Challenges Everyday

Jessica Rumpca will also be running in The 437 Project. She is an Avera family nurse practitioner in Pierre and in that role she’s realized how important it is to take care of your mental health.

“I think it’s helped being a nurse practitioner. I don’t think I realized how much of an issue it was until I was working with it every day and I see people of all ages dealing with mental health, depression, anxiety. I think a lot of people feel nervous to bring it up to family, friends,” Rumpca said.

She’s been running since she was in high school and has been training for the upcoming event.

“For me, it’s been a way to clear my mind, so when I am out running, I never listen to music, I listen to my feet hitting the ground and nature around me and it’s the only time I can feel like my mind can run free, so to me it’s always been my stress release,” said Rumpca.

Runnning to Encourage More Openness About Struggles

By participating in The 437 Project, she hopes she can get people talking about this topic.

“I think in general people are hesitant to talk about mental health, I am hoping that this just helps people feel OK to talk about it. I think suicide is an issue that doesn’t discriminate and often times there's the stigma toward it. To me, the big importance is that people know that there are resources and feel comfortable reaching out to anyone,” said Rumpca.

A team effort with one goal in mind.

“I like the whole idea of it being a team, too, because I think in general it shadows mental health because it takes a team to overcome those struggles and I feel like in that sense we are running across the state as a team to get through this event and help raise some awareness,” said Rumpca.