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Doisy Dean Raises $10,000 for Children’s Cancer Research During Four-Day Relay

Doisy College of Health Sciences Dean Mardell Wilson, Ed.D., RD, and her husband, Dave, will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in October. To mark the occasion, they embarked on a SLU-inspired mission – a four-day, 465-mile ‘St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run’ during one of the hottest weeks this summer that raised nearly $10,000.

Mardell Wilson with group

Mardell Wilson, Ed.D. (second from right) and her husband Dave (far right) along with their teammates on the Gold 1 Team each ran segments of the relay from Memphis, Tennessee, to Peoria, Illinois. Submitted photo

They chose St. Jude’s in part because Dave Wilson’s work has sponsored fundraisers like this one in the past. But just before Mardell Wilson’s move to SLU two years ago, the Wilson family developed a more personal connection with the hospital.

It was when their son Elliott was 9 years old, and he came home to say that his classmate Jason had been diagnosed with cancer and was being treated at St. Jude.

“Before we moved here, we heard that Jason was diagnosed,” she said. “Last year, his doctors removed nearly 500 tumors from his body. We were optimistic that things had turned for him.”

Sadly, after completing the run, they heard from Jason’s parents that his illness had progressed, and he will not recover. The news made their effort even more poignant, particularly as the Wilsons contemplated their good fortune over their 25 years of marriage.

“The Lord has blessed us in so many ways,” she said. “We wanted to give something to others. St. Jude’s is a magical place, and we wanted to help support these amazing physicians who do so much for children like Jason.”

Thus, the Wilsons embarked on the relay run from Memphis to Peoria. The relay began in late July at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Memphis in Tennessee and concluded at one of the hospital’s satellite facilities in Peoria, Illinois. It consisted of two teams – Gold and Blue. Each team was divided into packs of five to six runners who took turns completing segments of about six to seven miles, with water stops every mile. Typically, teams ran one to two segments daily. In the three and a half days of actual running, the Wilsons ran about 40 miles out of the total distance.

Throughout the journey, Mardell Wilson kept a blog. Here are excerpts from her entries:

July 27: Early Start

"Peoria, Illinois: We were hopeful for a good night’s sleep, but I don’t think either of us rested that well, as we waited for the 4:45 a.m. alarm. At the meet-up, we found our RV awaiting us – Gold 1. We were introduced to our new “roommates,” and we were off to the race starting pointing. It is now 2:45 p.m.; we are about 25 miles outside of Memphis. 

July 28: A Visit to St. Jude

We arrived at St. Jude Hospital for speeches, a tour of the facility and a much appreciated prayer. We left at 11:15 for a run around the St. Jude campus. Then, we were off. 
Dave and I are running segment 3. When we started, the actual temp was 97, and the heat index was 108. I shouldn’t have looked. Mile 1 was not bad; then it got hotter and hotter. However, the water stops helped tremendously, and we were pleased that we got our segment wrapped up in under an hour.
We finally made it to our overnight stop around 6 p.m. and everyone was resting by 8:45. Why so early, you ask? – Wake up is 3:30 a.m.!

July 29: Is it Day 2 or Day 3?

We had great weather for our run today. Cloudy, low 80s, humid – but so much better than yesterday. Each segment got a little bit harder today, but fresh water and food awaited us in Clinton, Kentucky. After, we moved on to Dongola, Illinois. Our shift starts at 10 p.m. I think I have logged 10 minutes sleep. I am hoping that the nighttime run is kind to us.
Zzzzzzzz … oh wait, that’s several miles and hours away.

July 29/30: It’s officially … Day 3

In 47 years, I have never run at 1:30 a.m. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous about the all-night shift. It was uphill the entire way. But the storms held off, the temps were ideal, and the road had been newly surfaced. It went really well – one of the best runs of the trip.
Eventually, we headed to DuQuoin, Illinois, for a hearty breakfast and sleep. By 11 a.m., we were on our way to Sandoval. Overcast and upper 80s today. The Lord has been very kind to us as far as the weather goes. (As I write this, however, our RV’s generator has shut down, so no lights, no water, no air conditioner. Hope it just needed a rest – it has been running as much as we have.)

July 30: Still Day 3

Mardell WilsonThe generator restarted!! Today’s run is dedicated to the great students, faculty, and staff in the Doisy College of Health Sciences! You will note my “uniform.”
We hit one-lane road construction and piled in the chase van. Road construction ended. Nothing like running from a dead stop up a steep hill. Hey, this is Illinois – where did these mountains come from?
We stopped in Pana, Illinois to sleep, then on to Decatur. I am a little tired, my legs are a bit sore, and I miss the boys. But if our efforts help advance research,  provide support to families or help even one child, it has been worth it!

July 31: Day 4 – The Finale

Bunk sleeping gets easier, the more tired you get. At 3:30 a.m., we welcomed Day 4, our last day of this journey. When you sleep in your running clothes, it makes getting ready pretty simple.
At 6 a.m. our team headed out for our final stretch from Decatur through Bloomington. Dave and I started our segment before Clinton and ran nearly to Wapella. Dave and I then elected to be “segment bandits” and run through Bloomington, our old stomping grounds.
The Gold Team is officially done!
We met the boys and then went on to Peoria, where we organized to run – more like shuffle – over the bridge. As we entered the Civic Center,  we joined 2,700 other runners from regional races. My legs were officially spent. People cheered and children everywhere pleaded for high-fives. It is hard to put the experience into words, but not into numbers:
The Memphis to Peoria runners, alone, raised more than $1,050,000 for the children and families of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Nearly $10,000 from our generous donors. Thank you all for helping us celebrate our 25th Anniversary with this life changing experience.”

Now sitting in her office back at SLU, Wilson reflected on the experience and the funds they raised. She and Dave put in $2,500 of their own money to sponsor their run. They inspired others to contribute nearly $7,500 more before they were finished.

“It was truly amazing,” she said. “When we stopped to fuel up at one point, a man with a cane got out of his van – clearly, he was not a person of means. But he walked up to me, thanked us for what we were doing for the children, and put $2 in my hand. It would not surprise me to learn that the money he gave me was all he had at that time, and he gave it to us.”

She paused, reflecting back on the entire experience and Jason, of the doctors and nurses; her fellow runners who were teachers, construction workers, health care providers and concerned community members; the 2,700 runners gathered in the Civic Center and the crowd cheering them on at the tops of their lungs, with so many children reaching out to them in gratitude.

“We were treated like heroes,” she said. “But we are not the heroes of this story – the children are. They fight every day and face challenges far greater than uphill runs and heat exhaustion – they are the heroes, every one of them.”