Foursquare Church Youth Pastor Trey Lara dies of cardiac arrest in Portland Marathon

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, October 07, 2026

Trey Lara, a beloved rising leader in the Foursquare Church denomination, died Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest while running the 26.2-mile Portland Marathon in Oregon. He was 24, and days shy of celebrating his 25th birthday.

Lara’s wife, Audrey Shin-Lara, told Fox 12 that his family and friends are in shock because he had no underlying medical issues and was as healthy as could be. She said he had also trained for several months before the marathon and seemed fine for most of the event.

“I saw him at [mile] 18, 19. He ran over and was able to smile and give me a kiss, and then he ran off, and he looked good,” she told the news outlet.

She said around mile 20, her husband collapsed. Doctors told her he went into cardiac arrest and they could not save him. The Portland Marathon confirmed Tuesday that a medical emergency occurred during the event but declined to provide personal information about the runner, Yahoo Sports reported.

“The grief is coming in waves where one moment it still doesn’t feel real where we’re like I’m just gonna wake up, and he’s gonna be over there,” she said.

Lara’s death comes two months after he left his job as a youth pastor at Eastside Church in Bothell, Washington, to help the Pentecostal church’s denomination steward young leaders. His parents, Omar and Misty Lara, serve as associate district supervisors for the Foursquare Church's Northwest District, in Oregon, according to Charisma. Audrey told Fox 12 that Lara also helped open a youth camp, Camp Genesis, this summer.

“I don't know if you know this, but there’s not a lot of young people rushing to be pastors. And it's not just in our denomination; we're seeing it everywhere. And so we had the honor to participate and help steward these kind of young leader, young pastor gatherings this past year, and they went really well,” Lara told East Side Church parishioners during his last sermon there in August.

“The Spirit of God really showed up and there's so many stories that came out from each city we went to. Based on how these went, our denomination asked if we would pray about or be interested in taking on a more formal role where my job would just be the resourcing, empowering, and encouraging of young leaders and young pastors,” he explained.

A $70,000 GoFundMe campaign Kari Ahearn launched Tuesday to support his family had raised $57,535 as of Wednesday. Ahearn revealed Lara was "just shy of his 25th birthday," and his faith was "unwavering."

“His faith was his defining feature. It has spoken the loudest to those who knew him, whether they spent years with him, months with him, or even just a single day. They recognized that Trey’s faith and passion for advancing the Kingdom of God were at the center of his life,” she said.

Ahearn also recalled his love of family, food, and “unmatched sense of humor.”

“He loved film, kept an active Letterboxd account, ate popcorn like it was a delicacy, collected clothes like works of art, and had a unique sense of style. He was a coffee purist, a foodie, an incredible chef, and had an eye for photography. He could make friends with anyone and had an unmatched sense of humor,” she said.

In addition to his wife, Lara leaves behind two sisters, his parents, and other extended family.

“He’s the love of my life, always will be,” his wife told Fox 12. “And we’ll see him again.”