Nursing student completes third St. Jude Run
Kailey Green raised $3,500 for children’s cancer research.
08/08/2011 3:15 PM
By Abby Rhodes
Kailey Green ’11, and current MSN student, paid $3,500 to run 30 miles in three days this summer. Green was one of hundreds of runners who helped raise $2.8 million for children’s cancer research through the 30th annual St. Jude Run charity event.
Running from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., to the hospital’s Midwest affiliate in Peoria, Green and fellow runners ran around the clock, taking turns running six or eight-mile stretches. It was Green’s third time running the 465-mile event, but perhaps the most challenging due to scorching, triple-digit temperatures. The runners set out from Memphis at high noon Aug. 3, with the mercury touching 104.
“It was really hot, but such a supportive atmosphere – both internally from the team members and from the crowds gathered to cheer us on – that it just felt inspiring and really helped keep us going through the intense heat,” Green said.
The run culminated in the 34th annual St. Jude Telethon, held Aug. 6 at the Peoria Civic Center, which raised an additional $4 million.
Green plans to apply her nursing degree in the mental health field and said a career at St. Jude would be challenging, but could be a possibility. “With cancer, there are many mental health concerns that need to be cared for, but working with young cancer patients takes a lot of heart. I have the utmost respect for the doctors, nurses and researchers who work there.”
Having raised about $10,000 for St. Jude over the last three years, Green has proven she, too, has a big heart. Whether in Memphis, or closer to home, she hopes her first job keeps her close enough to participate in next year’s St. Jude Run event.