RIP: Former William & Mary star / 27:59 man Jonathan Grey has lost his battle with depression at age 29

Wow... RIP. :(

So sorry to hear. Athletes are not immune to depression. If you are reading this and you are thinking about suicide please see someone and get help. Every day we should celebrate being alive in this beautiful world.

That's heartbreaking. Way too young. What was going on? He was living the dream many of us wish we could, running as a profession. Depression is such a mind boggling disease. I hope his brother will be alright. No doubt he will be in my prayers throughout my runs.

This is so sad. A note to anyone reading this thread who ever has suicidal thoughts: Crisis Text Line is a great 24-hour resource. Text 741741 (up the left side of your phone twice) 24 hours a day 7 days a week to talk to someone who can help.

Rest in peace, Jon. It was an honor to run and work with someone as kind and passionate as you. Matt, if you read this, my thoughts are with you and yours.

Jon, you were one of the most unique and stubborn people I've ever met, but you were also one of the most incredibly determined and ambitious people that I have ever known. You were also so very very generous with your time and advice and friendship. You dreamed big and I will always always admire you for that! I wish that we had been in touch over these past few years but I always followed your running and knew you were going to achieve amazing things. I am so heartbroken for your family and friends. I hope the LRC community can rally around this family in their time of need.

The time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the market-place;

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Today, the road all runners come,

Shoulder-high we bring you home,

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away

From fields where glory does not stay,

And early though the laurel grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see the record cut,

And silence sounds no worse than cheers

After earth has stopped the ears.

Now you will not swell the rout

Of lads that wore their honours out,

Runners whom renown outran

And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,

The fleet foot on the sill of shade,

And hold to the low lintel up

The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head

Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,

And find unwithered on its curls

The garland briefer than a girl’s.

Happy trails from now and forever to you Jon..

I didn’t know him other than sharing an elevator ride or two, or sitting next to him at a USATF technical meeting. But for all I could tell he was a nice guy. So terrible to wake up and read news like this since you just expect to keep seeing the same faces at all the events through the year. RIP.

I’m assuming this is John Gray the ultra runner. He’d been tearing it up lately, so this is mind boggling for those who don’t suffer from depression. Suicide is very sad (and for some, infuriating) no matter the person’s age or reasons.

As others have said, if you’re contemplating suicide (even a tiny bit) talk to someone. Anyone. Even a stranger.

ptguy wrote:

Get out of here with the selfish crap and blame game. That is such an ignorant thing to say!

You sound like someone who has never had a close family member take their own life? I'm glad that this is not something that you've never had to endure.

redux wrote:

For those who don’t have FB, can someone paste the text?

I’m assuming this is John Gray the ultra runner. He’d been tearing it up lately, so this is mind boggling for those who don’t suffer from depression. Suicide is very sad (and for some, infuriating) no matter the person’s age or reasons.

As others have said, if you’re contemplating suicide (even a tiny bit) talk to someone. Anyone. Even a stranger.

Today will be the hardest day of my life. There is an amazing person who I love, my best friend, my inspiration. My running partner. My partner in crime. I was made whole by this person as we did everything together. I will be half the person I was when I woke up this morning. I will not know how to function without being able to call you, to talk to you. You elevated everyone around you to care more, run faster and live life to the fullest. You were strong and passionate. I hope that where ever you end up, it is filled with endless trails and good friends. This is not goodbye as I will see you again running, playing video games and smiling wherever I go.

My brother Jon Grey ended his life today and lost his battle with his depression.

Awareness that one is contemplating a selfish act that will cause others pain increases self-loathing and guilt. That's more suffering; what the suicidal act is almost always accomplished so as to end.

I think that many people can completely relate what it is like to want to check out of this life early, and how that feeling can come to feel like the best and most appealing option. While I am grateful to Jon for bringing me back to reality today by making me see the devastating reality of what going down that path actually looks like, I am completely crushed for his family, his friends, and everyone else left behind, saddled with sadness and guilt and grappling for answers, likely wondering what they could've done differently. Like many, I will always wonder how his life would have panned out, and it is obvious the world lost a good one. I'm so sorry you couldn't outrun the demons Jon, Rest In Peace.

redux wrote:

For those who don’t have FB, can someone paste the text?

I’m assuming this is John Gray the ultra runner. He’d been tearing it up lately, so this is mind boggling for those who don’t suffer from depression. Suicide is very sad (and for some, infuriating) no matter the person’s age or reasons.

As others have said, if you’re contemplating suicide (even a tiny bit) talk to someone. Anyone. Even a stranger.

Not the trail runner who has been tearing up the mountain scene, Jon was an excellent track and xc runner. Jon won USATF XC once and runner up in SF a couple years ago. Nice guy. Very sorry and saddened to hear this news.

Editor's note: Jon won USAF Club XC in 2011.

I did a marathon last year and do not struggle from depression issues really ever. After a long build up I raced a marathon and gave it my all, the weeks afterwords I had some pretty bad depression i feel was induced from the chemical changes in the body that happen when you lay it all on the line in a race and throw your chemical balance out of whack sweating and flooding the body with endorphin's for months. I read that Jon raced CIM just a few weeks back, it makes me wonder if that race might have made someone who was already depressed suicidal due to the changes that occurred following.

I think that if anyone reads this suffers with depression, you should be bare minimum aware that hardcore training and then racing a Marathon can definitely make things much worse for you but remember, you're body has a balance, your balance returns and you will feel normal again, no need to take your life.

RIP duder.

The mountain runner is Joe Gray.

RIP Jon Grey

Ugh. Thought this must have been a rumor. So so sad. A good write up from just before the Trials.....https://pamakidscoach.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/who-is-jonathan-grey/

Heartbreaking and incredibly sad news. I've been racing against Jon since high school, and by against, I should say Jon has been kicking my ass since high school. Jon was always a class act, and as ballsy a runner as I've ever competed against. It didn't matter who he was racing, he would run aggressively, push the pace, never back down.

I ran into him at the Mt SAC relays a few years ago, we were in the same heat of the 5k. We were in the warm up pen, and he said to me "how did you get into this heat?" , and I had to laugh. He wasn't being rude, just essentially warning me to stay off the front because it was going to be a fast race, and he knew I was no 13:30 guy.

I'll always remember Jon racing Craig Miller at the PIAA Championships, and watching him excel at William and Mary. I was always inspired by his performances and his guts, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. The community has certainly lost one of the better ones. RIP Jon.