PEORIA, Ill. – Each summer, runners from central Illinois journey down to Memphis, Tenn. for the St. Jude Runs, running 465 miles back to Peoria and raising money for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
But they’re not alone in their effort. Nearly 30 satellite runs from all across Illinois and the Midwest join the Memphis run with the same mission of supporting the hospital.
Some of the satellite runs start as close as East Peoria and Tremont, with some as far away as Chicago and St. Louis.
The Washington to Peoria satellite started in 2008, when a group from the Bloomington run believed they had enough people to begin one in the Tazewell County city.
Coordinator Dominic Lang says the initial hope was to raise $20,000 in the first year.
“At one point, talked about hopefully someday the Washington run could be a quarter-million dollar fundraiser for the kids, and we got there,” Lang said. “And then here we are a number of years later, we’ve doubled that amount.”
As of Friday morning, Washington had raised $554,016 for the 2024 run. Lang says they’ve raised more than $4 million since the first run 16 years ago.
This year, 200 runners and volunteers are embarking on a 26-mile trip that will see them weave through Washington’s neighborhoods on Saturday morning, then stop for a costume contest, before heading to the Peoria Civic Center.
Lang says the moments that hit the runners the most are seeing the signs of support, especially from former patients.
It’s a county-wide effort north of Peoria, with the Marshall County to Peoria run taking place for the 14th time this year. The 52-mile journey for 2024 will start in Henry, then travel through Sparland and Lacon, before running to the Civic Center.
Marshall County Coordinator Mallory Lindstorm says it’s good to see every town come together for the same cause.
“We have a big group of runners, they’re all friends that are located in the Toluca area, which is part of the county. But we also do have a group of girls located in Henry that also fundraise altogether as a group, as well as we do have a lot of support in Lacon,” Lindstrom said.
This year’s Marshall County run features 54 runners and nine volunteers. Lindstrom says while the Marshall County run is one of the smaller contingents, she’s proud her group usually finishes in the top-10 of money raised.
The goal for the Marshall County run is to try and top last year’s total of $137,000.
Lindstrom says the arrival at the Civic Center on Saturday afternoon at the end of the run is “emotional,” because of the sense of relief that the yearlong work is complete, but gratitude for the health they are given.
Caitlin Kendrick is the coordinator for the Quincy to Peoria run, a 135-mile journey that’s so long, it begins on Friday afternoon and takes 24 hours for the 85 people involved to arrive in downtown Peoria.
Kendrick says for some involved, the run is even longer, with some starting in Hannibal, Mo. before joining up with Quincy. But she says the team is prepared for the journey.
“We have runners that run about a mile to two miles. We just ask our runners, you run what you can. And obviously, we have our rules, if you’re not able to run that far. But we have plenty of hydration, plenty of medical staff, fortunately, to help any of our runners who need it,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick says it takes about a year to plan out the run to Peoria. She says the Quincy satellite run has raised around $1 million in total, with $145,000 so far this year.
Kendrick says the arrival to downtown Peoria is “overwhelming,” because of the sacrifices for the kids at St. Jude. She tells her team to be ready for the emotions when they see the families and patients cheering them on.
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