Laguna Beach, unedited

Lauren Vane

Dieter Schmitz ran into the Laguna Beach High School stadium on

Sunday night, completing a more-than 70-mile combination bike and run

from San Diego.

As he collapsed onto the track, friends and cast mates from

“Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County,” piled on top of him, to the

cheers of the crowd who had gathered at the high school in support of

Schmitz’s charity event, Running Home 4 Teens.

“We’re gonna save a lot of lives, I can’t thank you enough,” a

gasping Schmitz said to the crowd.

Schmitz, 18, of Laguna Beach, raised more than $10,000 for Suicide

Awareness Voices of Education, a national nonprofit that works to

prevent and raise awareness about depression and suicide.

Though Schmitz knew the trek was going to be a challenge, he never

doubted himself and neither did his supporters.

“I wondered how his body would take it,” said Daniel Reidenberg,

SAVE’s executive director, who flew out from Minnesota to support

Schmitz. “He was going to make it to the finish line if he had to

crawl,” Reidenberg said.

At the finish line, Reidenberg presented Schmitz with a letter of

proclamation from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In return, Schmitz gave

Reidenberg and SAVE the donation check.

Schmitz’s friends, Stephen Coletti, Trey Phillips and Lauren

Conrad, all cast members on “Laguna Beach,” sold autographed T-shirts

to a continual line of eager young fans, with 100% of the profits

going to SAVE.

Jonathan Bernard, 18, of Laguna Beach, is one of the Schmitz’s

closest friends and he spent Sunday night updating the crowd on

Dieter’s progress and raffling off items that were donated by local

Laguna Beach businesses.

“It’s amazing, like, how positive he’s been throughout,” Bernard

said.

Angie Wheaton, 17, drove up from Oceanside to see Schmitz finish

his run in the name of an important cause.

“This is so cool, what he’s doing,” Wheaton said.

“These days [teen depression and suicide] is so common and it

shouldn’t even be that way,” Wheaton said.

Wheaton said she first heard about Running Home 4 Teens from

MySpace, an online message board. Wheaton is a fan of the Laguna

Beach show and was impressed that the cast members elected to do

something positive with their fame, she said.

“They could have just let it go to their heads,” Wheaton said.

Erin Snow, 17, of Redlands, and her friends also heard about

Schmitz’s efforts on My Space.

“I think it’s awesome. Mental illness in general is something that

really isn’t talked about. Bringing awareness is going to prevent

suicide,” Snow said.

Schmitz came up with the idea of Running Home 4 Teens after he

went through a difficult time during his first semester as a freshman

at San Diego State University. Schmitz watched his senior year at

Laguna Beach High School unfold on television and he missed his

friends.

Fortunately, Schmitz had a core support group of friends, but said

he wondered what it must be like for teenagers who have to go it

alone.

“He was not feeling that good about himself and he decided to do

something with that,” said Pam Schmitz, Dieter’s mother.

The result of Schmitz’s determination came as he crossed the

finish line on Sunday and announced the event’s profit.

It was a bonus to Schmitz’s efforts that his popular friends and

fellow cast mates made an appearance on Sunday. But as Schmitz’s

friends and family said, it was never about the television show or

the fame.

“This shows the true character of who he is, this is real stuff,

this is unedited, there’s no producer,” said Randy Schmitz, Dieter’s

brother.