RunTough for ChadTough 5K is Back!

Don’t miss this signature Saline community event — a fun-filled day for the whole family with a mission that means so much to ours.

On the afternoon of Sunday, September 27, we’ll gather for the 13th Annual RunTough for ChadTough Defeat DIPG 5K & 1M Fun Run. Each September, we hold this event in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and to celebrate what should have been our son Chad’s birthday. This year, he would have turned 16, which honestly feels impossible to believe.

Chad passed away in 2015 at just 5 years old from diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), the deadliest form of childhood cancer. RunTough honors Chad and the many other children and families who have faced this devastating disease — but it also celebrates the Saline community that has stood beside our family and this mission from the very beginning. It is because of that support that we have been able to grow into the world leader in DIPG research funding, funding over $48 million so far!

We hope you’ll join us at Saline Hornet Stadium for an incredible afternoon that is so much more than a race. It’s a celebration of friends, families, neighbors, and a community united around a common purpose. Race options include a 5K, 1M Fun Run, and Tot Race, followed by a free Family Fun Zone with activities for all ages.

Can’t join us in Saline? You can participate virtually from anywhere! Sign up, receive your race shirt, and RunTough however and wherever you’d like.

Be sure to register by September 2 to receive your race shirt in time for race day! You can still register after the deadline, but virtual race packets will not arrive until October, and preferred shirt sizes cannot be guaranteed.

If you’re not familiar with our family’s story — or how RunTough came to be — it’s really a story about what can happen when one small community decides to make a difference.

Twelve years ago this month, just three days before his fourth birthday, we received the devastating news that our youngest son, Chad, had DIPG. At the time, radiation was the only standard treatment available. We combined it with a clinical trial in New York City, hoping for as many precious “bonus” days with Chad as possible. But the heartbreaking reality was that there simply hadn’t been enough research into DIPG, and there was nothing available that could save him. Chad lived exactly 14 months after his diagnosis and passed away on November 23, 2015, at just 5 years old.

Throughout Chad’s illness, there were days when I could barely find the strength to get out of bed. It was an incredibly dark time for our family. But amid that darkness, something extraordinary happened.

Just weeks after Chad’s diagnosis, our neighbors came together to organize the very first RunTough — a fun run created simply to support Chad and our family. On that cold morning, people showed up in a way we never could have imagined. Chad was there too, although he wasn’t particularly impressed by the race itself! He was much happier sitting in the cab of a fire truck, pulling the horn and startling runners as they passed by.

That first RunTough sparked something much bigger.

Chad’s story opened people’s eyes to the urgent need for childhood brain cancer research. My husband, Jason, and I realized that we had a responsibility to carry forward the mission Chad had unknowingly begun: to inspire people to care about this disease and help fund the research necessary to change its outcome.

RunTough became part of the beginning of what would eventually grow into ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation. Since then, our community of families, researchers, donors, volunteers, and supporters has helped fuel tremendous progress in DIPG/DMG research and create new hope for families walking the same path we once did. Researchers are making discoveries that simply weren’t possible when Chad was diagnosed. While we couldn’t save our son, we are determined to help create a future in which children like Chad have better treatments, more time, and the chance to grow up.

And so much of it began right here in Saline.

That’s why we hope you’ll join us this year. If you’ve participated in RunTough before, come back and RunTough with us again! If you’ve never experienced it, we invite you to bring your family and see what makes this event—and this community — so special.

What started as neighbors rallying around one little boy has grown into a movement helping change the future of childhood brain cancer. We’ve made incredible progress, but there is still so much work ahead.

So lace up, bring your family, and join us for this very special RunTough. Every step matters.

Sunday, September 27
Saline Hornet Stadium
1300 Campus Parkway
Saline, MI 48176