21-04-2025
Running for Levi: Fish & Game CO to tackle Boston Marathon for suicide charity
If you need help If you or someone you know is showing signs of being at risk for suicide, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention can help. They also have links to resources for those who have lost someone to suicide. Visit You may also call or text 988.
ROB McDERMOTT and Levi Frye used to run together as trainees to become Fish and Game conservation officers.
'He would run slower with me, but he was definitely holding back,' McDermott said of Frye.
The two ended up working together in District 5 (encompassing pieces of Merrimack, Rockingham and Hillsborough counties) before Frye transferred to District 1 in Coos County.
It's only fitting that McDermott will lace up to run the Boston Marathon on Monday in memory of Frye, who died by suicide last October. The department has worked with Frye's family to bring awareness to resources available for those who find themselves in crisis.
McDermott got connected with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention after receiving an email to consider running the marathon for charity within a week or two of Levi's passing at 30 years old.
As of Friday, McDermott had raised more than $15,000 for the foundation, which is dedicated to educating the public about mental health and suicide prevention, as well as supporting survivors of suicide loss.
Donations continue to pour in for McDermott's first Boston Marathon.
McDermott and Frye were roommates in a state-owned property in Brentwood as trainees and got to know each other well. Frye often teased McDermott, who started training six months after him, and relished his seniority.
'We went through a lot of the same stuff as trainees,' McDermott said.
Frye ran at Fall Mountain Regional High School and as a member of the varsity cross country and indoor and outdoor tracks teams.
Each year, conservation officers on the advanced search and rescue team would go through a physical fitness test. Of course, Frye excelled in running.
'He was doing laps around you,' McDermott said. 'It was kind of comical, but there was nobody who could keep up with that guy. He was far ahead of everyone.'
McDermott is no slouch when it comes to athletic prowess between running in high school, taking part in triathlons and running marathons, including the Dallas Marathon in his native Texas.
Raising money for charity is also nothing new for McDermott, who bicycled across the country after he graduated high school.
'It took 40 days,' he said. 'It was a solo bike ride, and my family supported me in that.'
McDermott slowly added mileage since starting training for the marathon about 18 weeks ago. He increased his mileage to 16 miles, he said. He did a significant amount of cross training on his bicycle.
'It's been difficult, I am not going to lie,' McDermott said of juggling training and working a physically exhausting schedule. One time he got called on a rescue for hikers in the White Mountains before a planned five-mile training run the next day.
'That five miles didn't happen, but I did get a 14-mile hike,' he said.
Frye was well liked by his law enforcement brothers and sisters and was known for his dry sense of humor.
'Levi was always a wealth of information, and you could bounce ideas off of him,' McDermott said. 'He was phenomenal to work with.'
One time after an intense search and rescue mission at Bondcliff in the White Mountains, Frye and McDermott were able to hitch a ride in a National Guard helicopter. A photo of the moment shows the two smiling and enjoying the ride.
'It was brutal, the vegetation we had to walk through that day,' McDermott said. 'I can recall how happy we were for the helicopter to pick us up at the end of the day and we didn't need to hike out.'
Last year, Frye received the Conservation Law Enforcement Chiefs Associations Officer of the Year Award and McDermott was named the Shikar Safari International Officer of the Year.
McDermott originally hoped to run the marathon in four hours and 30 minutes, but now his goal is just to finish and bring attention to a great cause. He'll be thinking about Frye throughout his 26.2-mile run.
'I scoped out the course a little bit,' he said. 'For me it is about finishing it, having a good time and remembering Levi.'
