From Houston and College Station, Texas, Chris Ryan and Alyssa Schneider are more than family by marriage; they are teammates in a growing mission rooted in resilience, remembrance, and a shared belief that positivity is something you build, not something you wait for.
This fall, they will take on the 2026 Chicago Marathon as part of a larger journey through the World Marathon Majors, running under their team, the Sunshine Club. The name now represents a growing circle of friends and family who are united by one goal: to raise $100,000 for Project Purple in honor of Chris’s late Aunt Julie, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2023.
For Chris, Alyssa, and the rest of the Sunshine Club, running is no longer just about endurance. It has become a practice in gratitude, a structure for healing, and a way to bring light into the lives of others, even in the face of hardship.
Running Through Change
Chris and Alyssa both married into the Schneider family, and their bond is extremely special. “Chris and I joke that we feel like we’re actually brother and sister,” Alyssa laughs. While the two couples lived outside Texas for some time, they all grew very close when they ended up back in the same state.
“I’m just really thankful that we found a way to get back to each other,” Alyssa says. And it isn’t just their relationship paths that have found their way back together; it’s their running paths too. Their journeys into running look different on the surface, but both were shaped by life transitions that demanded something more grounded, more personal, and more sustaining.
Alyssa never saw herself as an athlete growing up. She jokes that she “always got picked last,” spending her early years in band rather than sports. But after becoming a mother during the COVID-19 pandemic, her world shifted dramatically.
“I was struggling to figure out who I was as a person,” Alyssa admits. “I felt like I was always pouring myself into work, my kids, and my family, so that I wasn’t giving myself anything else.” Suddenly balancing work, two young children, and life in isolation, she found herself searching for something that truly belonged to her.
That search led her to Camp Gladiator, an outdoor boot camp program in her area that quickly became a lifeline. It wasn’t just fitness; it was community. When friends in her group signed up for a half marathon, she initially resisted; the idea felt out of reach. But she ran it anyway, and what began as hesitation slowly turned into momentum.
That first half marathon led to a full marathon in the spring of 2024, and then something even more significant: a shift in identity. Running became the one space where Alyssa could release stress, reclaim time, and model something powerful for her children. “It truly turned my life around,” she shares. “I got my health back in order, and I felt like I actually had something for myself where I could release all of the mental and physical stress that I was being bogged down with for a really long time.”
For Chris, running had been part of his life since childhood, cross country and track through school, but like many athletes, it faded in adulthood. That changed after a personal health scare and a diagnosis of neuroendocrine cancer, which was caught early and successfully treated. “When something happens in your life, it kind of kicks you into high gear,” he shares. “It was a bit of a double-edged sword. It really made me want to do the best I could to have a healthier lifestyle.”
He had always wanted to return to running, but this was the moment that pushed him to actually start again. And it wasn’t just his own health journey that brought him back to it—it was also his Aunt Julie’s experience with pancreatic cancer that shifted his perspective.
A Light That Keeps Moving
At the center of Chris’s story is his Aunt Julie: a teacher, a caretaker, and the emotional anchor of what would eventually become the Sunshine Club. Julie was the kind of person who made people feel instantly seen. As chair of the “Sunshine Club” at her school, she helped create a culture of celebration and care among teachers, like acknowledging birthdays, milestones, and small victories that are often overlooked in demanding educational environments.
But what defined her most was not just what she did. It was how she made people feel. She showed up fully, whether in moments of joy or hardship. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone that was so keen on making sure the people around her felt heard, listened to, loved, and supported,” Chris says.
She also brought a lightness and joy that extended far beyond her work. She loved to travel, was deeply adventurous, and, as Chris puts it, was “the cool aunt” of the family: always the one planning outings, teaching dance moves, taking them to sporting events, sharing candy, or going to movies.
In 2022, Julie began experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms and went in for testing, where she was ultimately diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The disease had already progressed aggressively, and just months later, in early 2023, she passed away surrounded by her family. For Chris, the loss was not abstract; it was formative.
“She was just a light,” he reflects. That idea of “sunshine” became something larger than memory: it became a way of moving through the world. Alyssa notes that Chris is a “carbon copy” of Aunt Julie. “He totally lives in her memory with how he shows up for others, his family, and everyone around him,” she adds. That connection shaped the foundation of his running group, quite literally in its name. For Chris, it’s about carrying forward what Julie naturally embodied.
The Start of Something Bigger
Chris’s entry into marathon running began with a simple goal: New York City. His cousin, Aunt Julie’s daughter, was living in the city at the time, and he wanted her to be there to experience the race alongside him as he ran in Julie’s honor. He applied through Project Purple, drawn not only to the organization’s focus on pancreatic cancer and its direct connection to his aunt’s story, but also to the culture he felt within it. “It’s a family,” he says. “It was like a no-brainer for me.”
This first race was an individual effort, but the energy around him was unforgettable. Beyond the atmosphere, what stayed with him most was the experience of pushing himself through it. “You’re pushing your body to do the most that it can do,” he reflects. Crossing that finish line also carried a weight that went far beyond endurance. “Just knowing you crossed that hurdle and challenged yourself was amazing,” he adds, “and also doing it in memory of someone and for an organization that uplifts and provides resources to people going through their own challenges. It was just amazing.”
That experience stayed with him, not just as a personal milestone, but as something he wanted to share. Coincidentally, that same year, Alyssa also ran her first marathon. What followed was a natural extension of both of their experiences. “After we both completed our races, we just got to talking,” Alyssa says, “and we asked each other, ‘Hey, do you want to keep doing these together? Should we run all the majors?’” For them, it was partly about staying connected while living in different cities, but it also quickly became about something larger. “It was like, ‘This is a really big cause, let’s join forces,’” she adds.
From there, the Sunshine Club was born, with their first race together being the 2025 Berlin Marathon. Running that race side by side was both incredibly emotional and deeply cathartic. Family members showed an outpouring of support, and knowing they were doing something meaningful and positive made the path forward even clearer: they were committed to continuing the journey together.
The next race on the docket is Chicago, marking their second of seven World Marathon Majors as a team, but the Sunshine Club is no longer just a duo. It has grown to include additional teammates: more family members, friends, and co-workers, each drawn into the mission in their own way. “I love seeing the Sunshine Club grow,” Chris says. “And it’s more money for Project Purple to do good things with.”
All The Work Behind the Miles
Training has been no small feat, but they are both committed to having a strong showing in the Windy City. Alyssa completed a half marathon in December to keep the momentum going, and for her, marathon training now means early mornings, often before her children wake up. It requires coordination, support from her husband, and a level of structure that bleeds into every part of her life.
“It’s hard,” she says. “But it’s intentional.” That discipline has become something her children recognize. They see the effort, even if they don’t fully understand it yet. They ask if she “won the race today.” They watch her return having accomplished something difficult.
But even the training runs themselves now feel different than when she first started. “There’s just so much more purpose in it,” she says. There are days when she doesn’t want to go out there, but those moments have taken on a new weight. “I think about these stories and these people and who we’re supporting and why we’re doing this, and it’s so inspiring.”
And now, doing it alongside Chris and the growing Sunshine Club adds another layer entirely. The accountability of training together has changed the experience for Alyssa. “It’s nice to also have somebody who’s celebrating those victories with me along the way versus just doing it completely alone,” she adds.
For Chris, training has evolved in many ways. After Berlin, he began focusing more on pacing and long-term improvement. Since starting marathon running, he has lost over 40 pounds, and describes the shift as both physical and emotional. “I want to start seeing my times improve and keep getting faster,” he says.
Alongside the training itself has been something just as meaningful: the community that has rallied around him. Chris is quick to acknowledge the support of his Aunt Kathy, Uncle Bill, and his cousins Ryan and Kate, who he says are “a continuation of the light that Julie was.”
And more broadly, what he loves is seeing more people engaged, from coworkers to family and friends. “That’s honestly the greatest joy for me,” he says. For Chris, the impact goes beyond fundraising totals or race results: it’s about what the effort represents. “Life happens, but if you can find ways to turn something bad into something good, I would love to see that.” As Alyssa puts it simply: “Turn lemons into lemonade.”
The Light That Extends Beyond the Finish Line
When that day in Chicago comes, it will once again be about more than the race itself. “Just knowing that we’re collectively challenging ourselves to do something bigger than ourselves,” Chris says. “It is very emotional.” For him, that emotion is tied to something deeply personal.
“It’s like Aunt Julie’s there with me when I’m doing it,” he says. The atmosphere of the World Marathon Majors only amplifies that feeling: the crowds, the energy, the shared effort of thousands of runners all moving toward the same finish line. “There’s just so much positive energy,” he reflects. “People are cheering you on, and you’re cheering others on.”
And in those final steps, the meaning of it all comes into focus. “When I cross the finish line, I feel really connected with her,” he says. “And even as we keep adding more people to this, I think I’m always going to feel that. I’m always going to feel her.”
If Aunt Julie were there on race day, Chris imagines her presence would be unmistakable. “She’d probably be one of the loudest people on the course,” he says with a laugh. “She’d be giving everyone the biggest hug, smiling from ear to ear. And she’d just look at you and say, ‘I love you’… and you’d feel it. It would be so genuine.”
For Alyssa and Chris, the true meaning of the Sunshine Club is not just running races, but trying to bring something steady and human into other people’s lives: something that reflects what Aunt Julie lived every day: showing up, uplifting others, and making people feel seen. “People are going through so much that you never see,” he says. “Everybody could benefit from a little more sunshine in their lives.”
To support Chris and Alyssa’s run in honor of Aunt Julie and to help raise awareness for pancreatic cancer, donate to their fundraising pages here.
If you’d like to run or participate in an event of your own for Project Purple, visit our events page.
