With Grandma’s Marathon on the minds of many athletes across the world, one organization is bringing mental health awareness to the conversation. Sophie’s Squad, a nonprofit organization that provides education and awareness around mental health of athletes through open conversation, will be represented on the Grandma’s Marathon stage with racers from across the state of Minnesota partaking in the weekend’s races.
“I want kids and youth to understand that there are people out there that would fight for them and do anything in their power, you know, to kind of make sure that it doesn’t lead to what happened to my daughter,” said Aimee Wieland, Sophie’s mother.
Sophie’s Squad was created in honor of Sophie Wieland, who lost her fight to mental health in 2021, at the age of 14.
“It was something that was a complete total shock to all of us, still kind of is,” said Wieland.
As an avid runner, Wieland has raced in half marathons before, but never a full marathon. When Grandma’s Marathon reached out, she felt the race would be the perfect avenue to bring support to Sophie’s Squad, while also bringing her closer to Sophie.
I always set my kids up for stuff like that. So, all these kinds of like 1K races, 5K races, and they have tons of medals and participation medals and teachers and stuff like that. And I thought, “You know what? I always told myself that after every half marathon, there’s no way I could do that twice that. There’s no way,” said Wieland. “And then I just felt, “Well, this is probably the time that I should do it because it’s with grandma’s.” And I always told myself if it was London or Duluth that I would have to do it. So, I thought, “You know what? I’ll do it.” And so that’s kind of how I decided to end up doing it. And to kind of honor Sophie too because she was very active in stuff like this and she loved to run and loved to participate in stuff like that. So that’s kind of why I decided to do it.”
Every time Wieland trains for Grandma’s Marathon, she makes sure to honor her daughter in any way she can.
“I’ve been wearing her bracelets that we made. I made this shortly after for Sophie’s funeral, just to kind of remind everybody so that they don’t forget. It’s just a Sophie and it says, let your light shine on the other side,” said Wieland. “And then a friend of mine, he gave me this really pretty necklace. And I know Sophie has so many sports teams and stuff like that because her Skate to Excellence number is six. But then my friend gave me this with 16, which was her Sartell Storm and Sabre number. So, I’ve been wearing that when I run to kind of just feel like she’s a part of me and kind of with me and I think hopefully be proud of, you know, what I’m doing.”
For Ashley Hirt of Duluth, Sophie’s Squad came into her life after her own daughter experienced struggles with her mental health.
“A part of getting involved in mental health and Sophie Squad was trying to find resources for her to maybe find her place in the community. Kids learn better when they’re not always hearing things from their parents. And the connection and the people we met through Sophie Squad, the information we learn there really identified with us,” said Hirt.
Hirt and her daughter will be racing the William A. Irvin 5K as supporters of Sophie’s Squad, hoping to spread the conversation throughout all the weekend’s races.
“I think the more normalized we can make the message, the more people we can access of all ages, the more good we’re gonna do and the more lives we’ll enrich,” said Hirt.
For both mothers, Wieland and Hirt, raising awareness for an open dialogue surrounding mental health is what their work is all about.
“Whether it’s a big stage like Grandma’s Marathon, which is huge or small, I feel like all the events are important because it just helps spread the word, brings awareness,” said Wieland.
Click here to learn more about Sophie’s Squad, and to view their mental health resources.
- For Related Stories: Grandma's Marathon Sophie's Squad
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