“My name is Derrick and the 2025 Chicago Marathon will be my 9th marathon and 4th Abbott World Major. I ran my first marathon because I always wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps.  He ran the Los Angeles Marathon 5 years in a row when he was in his late 40’s and everyone was always so impressed with him for it.

I started running 5 years ago because of a bad breakup. I had called off an engagement with my then-girlfriend of 10 years and was just in a really bad place mentally. One day I left my house, picked a direction, and ran until I didn’t feel like it anymore. It helped so much that I decided that it was the year I was going to live up to my dad’s legacy and run the Los Angeles Marathon. Well, that worked so great that I decided to run one in another country and after completing the Berlin Marathon, the rest is history.

I’m now in the middle of a journey to run a marathon on all 7 continents, complete the world majors, and one day qualify for the Boston Marathon. Running has brought me the best physical fitness of my life, tons of opportunities to connect with new people and communities, and given me a way to give back to the world by inspiring others to start running and improve their lives through my video content.

Why did I choose to run for TeamSCC? I have a niece, Jordan, who is on the autism spectrum.  She is the first to be diagnosed with a development issue in my family. There’s so much my family has gone through and learned in the journey of raising Jordan that I just never thought about until she came into our lives. We love Jordan tremendously and the experience of watching her grow up has made me want to put a spotlight on supporting those with special needs, especially children, and the programs out there. These kids deserve every opportunity to succeed and excel, and the programs provide support that they wouldn’t get elsewhere.  I don’t think people think about it until their family becomes the one who needs that support, so I am proud to help bring some visibility to this cause.”