Local Professor's Effort to Relieve Stress Turns into Passion for Marathons and Opportunity to Help Charities

Dr. Ryan Tobiasz, forensic psychology and counseling psychology department chair on the Washington, D.C. Campus of nonprofit university The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, was just a stressed out student looking for something to relieve the anxiety of applying for pre-doctoral internships when he decided that taking up running could serve him in not only relieving the stress, but also in reducing the extra pounds he put on during the process.

It did not occur to him that what had begun as a way to take better care of himself would turn into an addiction for running marathons and raising money for causes important to him. Now 11 years and 20 marathons later, Dr. Tobiasz has set a personal best finish time of 3:36:21, and has raised more than $10,000 for charitable causes.

“I was never an athlete growing up. I ran a few 5K races and worked my way up to a 10K race in 2006. As I began enjoying running and wanting to drop the weight I had gained in the previous months, I opted to register for the Disney World Marathon in Orlando for January 2007.”

Though the Disney World Marathon was the first marathon he registered for, a friend’s broken ankle made it possible for him to make the 2006 Chicago Marathon the first one he actually ran, and he has now run in that particular marathon for 11 consecutive years. Rounding out the total of 20 are the Madison, WI Marathon (five times), the Walt Disney World Marathon (two times) the New York City Marathon (one time) and the Wisconsin Marathon (one time). He first ran to raise money in 2012, when he ran on behalf of Special Olympics Chicago in honor of his sister who has an impairment in intellectual and adaptive functioning.

“As I lost the weight that I had gained, I continued running marathons, as I wanted to make it about something bigger,” the forensic psychology professor explained. “I raised money for Special Olympics because of the impact impairment in intellectual and adaptive functioning has had on my sister and my family as a whole.”

His completion of the 26.2 miles through many of Chicago’s neighborhoods raised $177 more than the $1,000 goal he set for himself. It was the 2013 death of a relative that inspired him to run for Cellmates on the Run, a group that runs for The Chicago Diabetes Project, a global group of scientists, researchers, and doctors who collaborate toward the mission of curing diabetes. Dr. Tobiasz’s team has raised nearly $1 million towards diabetes research. In the four years he’s been running with the group, his contribution has increased year over year.

“My cousin’s father Jerry died at the age of 67 after an infection from a surgery which he was unable to fight due in large part to his diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. In memory of Jerry, I decided to run for Cellmates on the Run. I am proud to say that I have been able to raise $9,729.60 for such an important cause.”

To feed his fondness for running, Dr. Tobiasz has also participated in sprint triathlons, even competing in the Wisconsin Ironman, which included a 2.4-mile swim, a 122-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile marathon. It took him a little more than 16 hours to complete the event, but he shows no signs of stopping, and has run as many as four marathons in one year. His deep commitment to help others, in the meantime, has led him to become the vice president of the D.C. Chapter of his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s alumni association, a role in which he helped to raise over $31,000 for needs-based scholarships for students for the 2016-2017 academic year.

For 2017, the enthusiastic marathoner has plans to run his 12th Chicago Marathon, is contemplating running the NYC Marathon again, and has placed his name in the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon. The Chicago and Marine Corps marathons both take place in October, while the NYC Marathon takes place in November. He not only considers running in marathons a great act of self-care and a way to help others, but also something to enjoy, as is evidenced by his response to an opportunity he was given to appear as a marathon runner in an episode of Chicago Med.

“I did this not only because I am an avid runner but to also have fun,” he said. “I encourage my students to use whatever it is to cope with the demands of graduate school and develop new methods along the way as well, as I know this can be a very stressful time of their lives. The take-home message from all of this: Do what you need to do for self-care, take time for yourself every now and again, and have fun along the way.”