Our Story, Our Team

“You never know the type of day someone is having. Be nice and spread kindness.” (Anonymous)

Over the past few years, Just Breathe and Run has became a consistent reminder of what really matters — what actually matters in life. It is funny because Emily and I never imagined this to become nearly the event it has. In fact, our original expectation was “a small jackpot promoting Cystic Fibrosis awareness”. It interesting how God’s plans can be different than ours — in a good way. A very wonderful way.

Our Story

Just Breathe and Run was inspired by Danika Davis, one of the co-founder’s sisters who battles Cystic Fibrosis and its effects everyday. Danika has the ability to unknowingly inspire every person around her to live life to the fullest. She takes over 20 medications daily, along with multiple breathing treatments. Fortunately, about three years ago, she was started on a medication which changed her life. This medication slows down the progression of the disease tremendously. Unfortunately, not everybody is a candidate for this particular medication, nor is it a cure.

Just Breathe and Run was founded by two high school students, Emily Dodds and Regan Davis. We have high hopes for our race with our ultimate objective being to support further research to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. At the 2018 Just Breathe and Run Barrel Race, we raised over $21,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In 2019, the results were astonishing totaling over $50,000 accumulated the past two years. We received over 400 entries each day, which over doubled the amount of entries in 2018. In addition to the 400 contestants, over 2,000 spectators attended the 2019 event as well.

No matter how big or small the impact, our desire is to aid the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in taking one step closer in the fight to change CF from “Cystic Fibrosis” to “Cure Found”.