Quincy Team Raises 50, 200 for the kids!"
 

 

 

Their clothes were drenched with sweat.
Their legs were aching.
Their faces showed signs of exhaustion.
 

 

But when more than 50 runners finished the third annual St. Jude Quincy to Peoria Run this weekend, their spirits were soaring.

"It was excellent," said Krista Tenhouse of Liberty, who participated in her first St. Jude Run, which raised $50,200 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and its Midwest Affiliate in Peoria.
 

 

"You're tired, but it's a good tired. I know that what I'm going through is nothing like what St. Jude patients go through."

Tenhouse and the other runners started their journey at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the County Market parking lot, 30th and Broadway, with dozens of people standing along the route cheering them on.

The run continued relay-style for 135 miles until the runners reached Peoria at 4 p.m. Saturday.

They endured the grueling August temperatures and humidity ‹ most going without sleep ‹ as they jogged along U.S. 24, winding through small towns where even in the wee hours of the morning people stood outside their homes offering cheers and applause.

During a leg of the run through Mount Sterling at about midnight, a couple stood on their lawn and walked out toward the highway to hand a runner two $5 bills.

Motorists passing the runners along the route honked in support. People eating in diners and taverns along the way gladly put cash into St. Jude canisters.

In Lewistown, people gathered at a church midmorning Saturday to present a $500 check and thank the runners for their efforts. Denise Bankes of Lewistown, one of the St. Jude runners, helped set up the stop.

Perhaps the most poignant stop along the route, though, was running into the town square in Astoria at 5:30 a.m., about halfway through the trip. Dozens of townspeople gathered with a morning feast ‹ doughnuts, brownies, cookies, juice and water ‹ to rejuvenate the tired runners.

They opened up the high school so the runners could take a welcome shower.

They also presented $1,300 to the group.

The stop was special because one of the runners, Brian Blakley, lives in Astoria. His son, Dalton, was a St. Jude patient and lost his battle with neuroblastoma in June. Blakley and his fiancée, Kari Heller, wanted to participate in the run as a tribute to Dalton and to inspire and motivate the other runners.

"They're carrying on so strong," Tenhouse said of Blakley and Heller.

Runners also got inspiration from Spencer Waters of Liberty, a St. Jude patient now in remission who was running in his third St. Jude Run, and his mom, Nancy, who was serving as a volunteer; from Chet Brown of Quincy, one of the motor home drivers whose daughter is a surviving St. Jude patient; and Rhonda James of Quincy, whose daughter Paige recently died after battling a brain tumor.

That's why the runners never complained during their grueling runs, no matter how hot or how tired they were.

"The pain that we go through is nothing like what the kids go through," said Andrew Edgar, 18, of Quincy, who logged 20 miles during the run. "I think we can make that sacrifice."

The run was a family adventure for Edgar. His dad, Andy, put in about 25 miles during the trip, and his mom, Paula, drove one of the vehicles.

The Edgars got involved because Paula's 4-year-old niece was a St. Jude patient who died in 1999 after fighting a brain tumor. Paula also is a member of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, whose philanthropy benefits St. Jude.

"It's just a great cause," Andrew said.

Rick Meehan, run coordinator, continues to be amazed at the determination and commitment that the runners exhibit. On Saturday morning in the blistering heat, he rounded up the runners for a quick meeting.

"We're hot. We're tired. Do you want to go on?" Meehan asked.

There was no hesitation.

"Let's do it," someone in the crowd said, and the rest of the runners cheered.

"The neat thing is watching them transform from runners to fundraisers," Meehan said. "Once they know and understand about St. Jude, it makes them want to try harder."

Tenhouse, who put in 15 miles during the run, says the camaraderie of the runners also helped push them forward.

"It's really hot and miserable," she said. "But at the end of your leg, you know a lot of people will be cheering for you."

A lot of people were cheering, too, as the Quincy runners joined runners from Memphis and 17 other running groups for their final leg ‹ a jog into the Peoria Civic Center during the annual St. Jude Telethon.

A total of 1,500 runners participated in the runs, raising more than $2 million for St. Jude.

The Quincy group's $50,200 contribution far exceeded its $35,000 goal and was a huge jump from the first year, when 18 runners raised $11,000.

"I'm so proud of these runners," Meehan said, adding that because of corporate sponsors, 100 percent of the money goes directly to St. Jude. "This is a good group, determined to raise money for the kids."