SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The answer to what motivates someone to overcome an obstacle or accomplish a goal is often straightforward. People inspire other people.
The 437 Project highlights and celebrates mental health, and one of the biggest lessons along the way is how inspiration is contagious. Kyle Blakeslee with Sioux Falls Fire Rescue had already run two legs of this journey when she wore her firefighter gear on her third leg.
“I feel that if we are not taking care of ourselves as first responders, we’re not in our tip-top shape to take care of our community, and our community depends on us when they need to call 911,” Blakeslee said. “And so, first responders taking care of their mental health is super important to me.”
Israel Zinns, who served in the Marines, ran for fellow veterans.
“Talk to someone,” Zinns said. “Anyone. There’s somebody that will listen. Whether it’s somebody you served with, family member, a friend. Someone will listen to you.”
12 local runners, including KELOLAND’s Dan Santella, crossed the entirety of South Dakota in The 437 Project in late September; each of the dozen was assigned four legs in the relay that stretches roughly 437 miles. Since its launch in 2022, the now annual effort has raised more than $1 million for the Helpline Center, a nonprofit which connects people with mental health resources.
“I have two teenage daughters, and very, very important to me that we show them that it’s okay to talk about their mental health,” runner Lisa Lemon said. “It’s okay to say, ‘I’m not okay’ when I’m not okay. And know that there’s people out there or the Helpline Center if needed.”
“To be trusted with the responsibility of bringing awareness to such an important topic and something that’s impacted so many people in so many communities, it’s humbling, and it’s just really an honor to be out here representing people,” runner Kristina Schaefer said.
The 437 Project in 2025 brought in more than $322,000: a figure that, so far, is a record. Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken helped launch the event.
“From the first year, we really cobbled this thing together, even in how it was organized, and we’d have some of these stops along the way, and the communities were like, ‘What is this,’ and ‘What’s it about,’ and now we can say The 437 Project, people know what it is,” said TenHaken, who ran in the effort in 2022, 2023 and 2025.
Across the country, anyone can call or text 988 for mental health assistance. In South Dakota, the Helpline Center administers the call line.
“It’s really a full-circle moment for me, having worked in behavioral health with the State of South Dakota and having been part of setting up the 988 crisis line,” runner Laura Ringling said.
Ringling’s daughter Ellis helped inspire her mom’s teammates.
“I really wanted to find a way for her to be involved in this, and this seemed like the best way,” Ringling said. “She’s into bracelet-making, and I know she got to see a lot of the team wearing her bracelets yesterday and got to hear from a lot of them.”
Runner Bennett McIntosh could find her bracelet right next to a tattoo.
“Looking down and seeing this on my wrist, this means ‘I love you’ in sign language,” McIntosh said of the tattoo.
She and her family wave this to each other.
“You are never alone,” McIntosh said. “So, if you are ever struggling, lean on those who love you. Ask for help. Like, there is so much support in this world.”
“People want to help others, and it doesn’t matter which demographic you’re in,” runner Tony Goettsch said. “There’s always someone there to help you, support you.”
The metaphors are all over the place on The 437 Project’s route: highs, lows, hills, valleys, intense sun, dark night, a sunrise that finally arrives. Sometimes the valleys feel deeper than the hills’ peaks feel tall. And just like the route from the Wyoming border to the Iowa border curves and dips and rises, everyone’s mental health journey goes through different stages. Drew Robinson, a former Major League Baseball player who survived a suicide attempt in 2020 and is now a mental health advocate with the San Francisco Giants, spoke to kids in Chamberlain alongside The 437 Project’s team at a stop on the way out to the relay’s start.
“I think the misconception is when you’re taking time to yourself, when you’re taking time to address those things, it’s because you’re weaker or less than,” Robinson said. “And that’s the exact opposite. And I think the other misconception is that it’s a linear thing, and that once you kind of find healing, then you’re healed. When the reality is, it’s a continuous journey.”
Blakeslee wrote names of people lost to suicide on her running shoes.
“When times got tough, when I was running in the wind on the gravel just a few minutes ago, I was thinking about those names and trying to tell myself not to complain because this is not even close to the battle those people fought,” Blakeslee said.
“What this project’s all about is perseverance and resilience and doing hard things, and hopefully that can be an inspiration to others,” runner Tony Nour said. “Yeah, there was no way that I was going to stop on that hill or the miles that followed thereafter.”
Funny how an effort can be heavy and uplifting at the same time. But here we are.
“It’s okay to not be okay, especially when you’re a mom,” runner Lexie Warejcka said. “And let your kids know that. Because you’re showing them that you’re stronger. So that’s really why I’m here, that’s why I’m running these four legs, for every single mom out there that feels like they’re not enough, that they’re not a good mom, that they’re not a good wife, because you are. God made you a mom of those children for a reason.”
“The short-term pain that we feel on a run significantly pales, it’s not even comparable, to the pain that’s felt by families who are left behind, and that’s what I was thinking about as I went up that hill and just thought of those families that are missing someone,” Nour said.
Runner Riley Knutson ran for his friend Brady Fuchs who died by suicide in August 2022.
“We’ve been thinking about Brady,” Knutson said. “I hope other people have been, too, and thinking about their ‘whys’ throughout their journey so far.”
“On his sports teams, a lot of times he would be more into helping the others around him than worrying about himself,” Brady’s father Tom Fuchs said of his late son. “He was definitely a team player.”
And this 2025 437 Project team feels the love from family, friends and well-wishers like Brady’s parents, no matter where supporters are.
“I think when you have big projects like this, big events like this, people are going to pay attention,” Brady’s mother Patti Fuchs said.
“I think that’s what touches me is that you guys don’t have to do this,” Tom said. “You don’t have to do this.”
But if anyone asks one of the runners if she or he is thrilled to have done it, the answer will be an enthusiastic yes. Because among the runners, there’s a shared conviction in the urgency of The 437 Project’s message. And all those hills and miles aren’t going to conquer themselves.
Santella’s previous reporting on The 437 Project’s 2025 journey can be found here, here and here.
