An Adventure With Purpose

David Heller - 2024 Metro District Finalist, Colorado's Heart Award

Driven by a devastating diagnosis, REALTOR David Heller rallied a community.

Some moments in life can be defined as Before and After. So it was for REALTOR® David Heller when his mother, Linda Lou Heller, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010. “She’s been a constant source of support and inspiration throughout my life,” Heller shared. “She is the only inspiration I need to fight the good fight against MS each day!”

An avid cyclist and ultra-runner, Heller founded Team Linda Lou within the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Colorado and Wyoming branch. The team of cyclists has been riding in the Colorado MS-150, a grueling but scenic 150-mile bike ride through the Colorado Rockies, for more than a decade. Fundraising generated by the teams of cyclists that participate in the event has powered breakthroughs in research for the more than 1 million people living with multiple sclerosis. In fact, Team Linda Lou has raised over $250,000 to date and Heller expects the 2024 team to be the largest yet.

In 2022, Heller was asked to participate in the MS Run The US, an annual Ultra Relay which breaks up the nation into 21 segments and challenges runners to complete a segment of the 3,260 miles across America in support of fundraising for MS research. Heller ran Segment 7, stretching from Steamboat Springs to Denver, so that his mother could be there to watch him run. “I’ll call it an adventure, an adventure with purpose,” he said of the experience. “To take on something like this - with so many miles and so much adversity every single day that you have to overcome - that is the perfect tribute to the people who are battling MS.”

Of his 18+ years as a REALTOR®, he said, “The relationships I've developed with clients and industry contemporaries over the past two decades has served as an incredible base with both fundraising and volunteer participation. The philanthropic philosophy demonstrated by both the Colorado Association of REALTORS® and NAR perfectly aligns with my community based values.”