24 miles in 24 hours: How an Iowa City running event highlights importance of mental health

It's been about a year since Aidan O'Neil's death, and Iowa City Regina Catholic High School's cross country team—including a range of teammates, alumni, parents, and friends—is gathered together under an abundance of trees and a large white tent to escape the sizzling 90-degree summer heat.

The sounds of chatter—which include memories of O’Neil—and the steady buzz of food truck generators fill the air in the Bottorff family's yard.

The focus shifts as the group of about 40 runners—including event organizers Henry Bottorff, Dan Maley, and Joe Maley—step onto the sidewalk, take a brief picture, and begin mile No. 22.

"Miles for Mental Health."

Dozens of runners trekked one mile every hour for 24 consecutive hours on Saturday, July 13, to raise awareness and money for the Regina Mental Health Focus Fund in honor of O'Neil, who died by suicide in July 2023.

Remembering a beloved teammate

Bottorff, Dan Maley and Joe Maley − all graduates and former members of the Regina cross country team−came up with the idea after O’Neil’s death. It blossomed into a more structured event in its second edition.

“We saw it on TikTok and we kind of thought it was a cool idea to honor him just because of how much he loved running," Bottorff said. "Just using this as a challenge to push ourselves to be the best that we can be just like Aidan did every single day. Cross country, school or in the classroom, he'd always try to be the best person he could be."

O’Neil left a lasting impression on everyone he met. The New York native moved to Iowa City and transferred to Regina High School as a freshman in 2020. He had never been involved in organized running before becoming a Regal, but quickly fell in love with it.

O'Neil soon earned a reputation for his humor, leadership and supportive nature.

"If he saw someone struggling, he would run back and try and help them, and he would just do everything he could to make sure everybody could perform at the best of their abilities," Dan Maley said. "He kind of inspired me to try and be that person for other people as well."

A unique passion

O'Neil spent the final years of his life dedicated to the craft of running. He spent countless hours running one mile after another. That competitive spirit rubbed off on his teammates, and it ultimately helped lead Regina to a Class 1A state title in 2022.

"When I think of Aidan, I think of winning state just because of how much he pushed our team," said Regina graduate Colin Olney. "We wouldn't have won state if it wasn't for Aidan and how much he pushed us in the weeks leading up to it...He was always the kind of runner where if he wanted something, he was going to work his butt off until he got it."

Cross country and camaraderie go hand in hand. Waking up early to trek hundreds of miles can create a strong bond. The Regina community has fit that mold, and it showed at the second-annual 'Miles for Mental Health' event this past weekend.

Running for a cause

Running a mile every hour for 24 hours straight is a test of resilience. The close-knit Regina group pushed each other, calling on their years of training and friendship.

"We decided that were going to do something like this to honor (O'Neil's) legacy," Joe Maley said. "It was going to be really tough (running 24 miles in 24 hours) but you can push through it with all the stuff learned from cross country like hard work, perseverance."

Regina cross country head coach Chad Swope praised Bottorff, Dan Maley and Joe Maley for organizing the event.

"It's just a neat show of camaraderie, love and respect for Aidan (and) his family," Swope said "To go all through the night doing that on little sleep, it's tough...The passion, the work ethic and the integrity; I always looked at those as the three keys to success in anything you do in life, and those three boys have fully shown that."

The Regina High School track hosted the 24th mile, and a large number of community members joined in on the festivities.

For Catherine Schiele, O'Neil's grandmother, Saturday's event was touching.

"I look at all these kids and how wonderful they are that they would do this and that they loved him so much and cared so much about him," Schiele said. "I do think that our future is going to be okay, our country is going to be okay because these kinds of kids are going to be running it."

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: How an Iowa City running event highlights mental health awareness