Thank you to everyone who participated or supported the 2023 Eureka St. Jude Run, and congratulations on raising a Eureka-record $173,000 for the kids of St. Jude!!  Considering the $63,000 raised by Fight For Life, the Eureka community raised a combined $233,000 for St. Jude this year.  Truly unbelievable. 

I very much appreciate your adaptability this year, going with the flow as we changed starting venues at the last minute and as we ran in the rain most of the day.  I had a sinking feeling while looking at the radar that morning that the day would be terrible and that it would not be an enjoyable experience.  However, throughout the day it didn’t seem to me that anyone allowed their spirits to be the least bit dampened by the rain (awful pun intended).  You are a remarkable group of people, and it is privilege to know you! 

Runner feedback and ideas over the years have been critical to making the run what it is today, and they will be key to making it better in the future.  As such, I would appreciate your feedback on the day, things we could do better or new ideas for future runs.  (Having a rain contingency plan for the sendoff ahead of time is already on my list)

Thank you again and I’ll see you on July 20, 2024!!!

• Details for Run Morning
  • Please arrive about 7am
    • Put your bags on a bus (no assigned bus/seating)
    • Check in at the table and submit any final cash or checks
  • 7:30 – Sendoff begins on the courthouse steps with a group photo
  • 8:00 – We start running

• Details for after the run
  • We are scheduled to arrive at the Civic Center at 3:30 (See Attached).  The busses will line up on Kumpf.  Once we have crossed the finish line, we will need to walk over and get all our things off the busses. 
  • We need to be lined up next to our “Eureka” Flag along Monroe Street by 4:30 wearing our official navy run shirts
    • Showers are available in the Civic Center.
  • Once we get inside the Civic Center, please stay together as a group and we will go over to the photo stage area for a group photo.
  • After the photo you are free to enjoy the evening!! 
    • Pasta party
    • Beer garden(s)
    • St. Jude Store
    • Live Telethon
  • Family and friends are invited to join you for the party.  The free food and drinks are intended for runners and volunteers.  We will have wristbands for you.  There will also be food trucks on site for additional food purchases.
  • Our televised group check presentation is scheduled for 9:09 PM.  All are invited to participate.

• Run Route Details:
  • Here is a detailed description of our 2023 route, including color coding for difficulty (green = mostly flat, Yellow = some hills, Red = fast leg), as well as the music genre for each leg.
  • Here is an interactive map of our 2023 route.

• Things to bring on run day:
  • Please bring an extra towel to cover your bus seat.  Peoria Charter Coach gives us a massive discount for the run; let’s not thank them by sweating up their seats!
  • We recommend bringing a towel, a couple changes of running clothes, even an extra pair of running shoes. I like to towel off and put on a fresh shirt at lunch or if I take a break during the day. If it rains and your shoes get wet, a fresh, dry pair of running shoes may save you from some extra blisters. Speaking of blisters, I recommend bringing an anti-chaffing product such as Body Glide or Two-Toms. We’ll be out in the sun and heat all day, so a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen are good ideas also.
  • Your official run shirt to change into

• Run Shirts are ready! (A huge thank you to Kristi Wilson for sorting, bagging, labeling, and binning all the shirts for us!!!)
  • You have two options to pick them up
    • They are on my front porch, alphabetized in bins.  321 E Harrison St., Eureka.  Two-story white house with a basketball hoop in the drive
    • All shirts not picked up in advance will be available at the check-in table on run morning
  • Remember to bring your shirts with you on run day.  We don’t run in them during the day.  We change into them at the end of the run so we have matching shirts for the runners parade, party, and check presentation
  • New runners will receive a grey St. Jude Runs shirt also.  These are yours for becoming a St. Jude Runner.  They are not needed on run day

• We will be accepting final fundraising checks and cash at the check-in table on run morning.  However, if you have a large amount on hand now, please make a deposit early this week if not inconvenient to do so.  This just helps to minimize the manual counting our volunteers have to do on run morning.  For checks, there is a mobile check deposit option, or you can take them to any Goodfield State Bank location.  If you take them to the bank just tell the teller they are for the St. Jude Run and ask them to jot your name on the deposit slip.  Cash can also be deposited at the bank in the same way.

• If you are new runner and you have not yet watched our informational pre-run video, please do so before run day (27 minutes).

• The post-run pasta party is back this year and will be indoors again.  Beer will be available indoors as well.  There will also be a beer garden and food trucks outside again.
• Showers will be available at the civic center this year.
• All runners are welcome to participate in the on-air check presentation this year (our presentation time is TBD)
• The bridge we cross over going into Peoria is under construction.  It appears they will have it open for us on run day for foot traffic only.  We’ll have to reroute our support vehicles to meet us in the parking lot, but we will still get to cross the bridge as usual. 
• July 7 is the last day to book a hotel at the group rate, if you are wanting to do that – Book your group rate for ST JUDE RUNS

The Eureka St. Jude Run is partnering with Fight For Life to put on a 5K race at Eureka Lake on July 22. See the link below for full details and registration.

https://runsignup.com/fightforlife5K

We have new Eureka St. Jude Run apparel available!  Stephanie Brown and Brenda Marvin worked with Willow & Pine Boutique to develop a fresh set of items you will love!  Prices are reasonable, and 10% of all sales will come back to our run.  Shop here:

https://willowandpineboutique.com/collections/eureka-st-jude-run   (Tanks and Tees are unisex)

Note that the matching team shirts for the runners parade at the conclusion of the run will be provided to all participants at no cost.  The items offered here are just for looking great and representing our run the other 364 days of the year!

Orders may be placed from now through July 23^rd.  Orders will go to the printer every Monday with a two-week turnaround time.  Enjoy!

New this year, individuals that raise $2,500 or more will earn a special “St. Jude Runs Champion” T-shirt, and individuals who raise $3,500 or more will receive a “St. Jude Runs Champion” sweatshirt. 

The run office is hosting a St. Jude Runs happy hour on April 27^th from 4-6 PM to mark 100 days until the run.  This is completely optional, but sounds like fun!

• Book your group rate for ST JUDE RUNS
  • Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette. August 5– 6, 2023
  • Last Day to Book: Friday, July 7, 2023

We do not anticipate any COVID restrictions for the run this year, which means the post-run party is heading back indoors.  Nothing is finalized yet, but the plan is to be indoors with the telethon, the store, and a pasta party, just like the good old (pre-pandemic) days!  We also plan to be able to present our check on TV as a full group again!  Showers are still a question mark, but the run office is talking to the civic center now and hoping they will be available for us.

We will be selling raffle tickets next Saturday, March 4^th at Eureka IGA from 8am to 4pm.  We will have a table set up just inside the door.  Sign up here to work a shift (or several).  Slots are first-come-first served.  Sign up for as many slots as you want.  All money raised that day will be credited to your individual fundraising total for those who work, divided evenly by shifts worked. 

Running for St. Jude is awesome, so it is natural for multiple members of the same household to want to participate together.  That’s a great thing, but we recognize it has the potential to represent a fundraising hardship, in that people of the same household likely have largely the same population of potential donors.  We want multiple members of the same immediate household to be able to participate together without facing an unreasonably high fundraising requirement collectively. 

This year, we are going to try a “family plan” approach.  While the first member of a household would still need to raise $1,000, additional family members in the same household can participate in the run with a $500 minimum fundraising requirement.  So, two people in the same household would have a combined minimum of $1,500.  For three people it would be $2,000.  Four would be $2,500, and so on. 

I am very interested in your feedback on this (positive or constructive).  We’ll try it this year and then reevaluate for next year.

If anyone would like stationary for fundraising letters, we have letterhead paper and envelopes on hand (no cost to you).  Just let me know what you need!

Also, we will have new merchandise/apparel available in the coming months.  In the meantime, we have a modest supply of yard signs, tumblers, license plate brackets, koozies, decals, and a head band in stock.  Shoot me a note if you’d like to purchase anything! 

Happy New Year!!!  

Want to cross something off your 2023 to-do list early?  Registration is officially open for the 2023 Eureka St. Jude Run!  With only 214 days left until run day now is the time to beat the rush and get signed up.  😊

Register Here

I would like to share a small revision to our route for 2023.  So that there is less of a time crunch when we get into Peoria, we have revised the Eureka portion of our route, shortening it by two miles and allowing us to arrive at the Civic Center a half hour earlier.  The Run Information Page (accessed above) has been updated to reflect the new route description (including music genres for 2023) and the new route map.

As a reminder, the run is on August 5^th.  Save the date!!!   We anticipate registration opening early next month.

Moving forward, important updates or Annoucements about the Eureka Run will be sent via email to those on our distribution list, will be posted here on this Announcements page, and will be posted to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Your thoughts or suggestions to this approach are welcomed. Thanks!

Welcome to the new website for the Eureka St Jude Run! Fortunately, I am a much better run coordinator than I am a webmaster, but please provide feedback and I will act upon it if I am capable of it. Thanks for visiting!