Miracle Marathon to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

asouthernmother
August 7, 2014

What if every mile you ran could help create a miracle? Registering for The Children’s Miracle
Network Miracle Marathon could do just that. It isn’t your typical marathon; the run is spread across 27 days and you are asked to complete a mile a day for 26 days whenever and where ever you like, and the final 1.2 miles is completed as a group. Instead of running 26.2 miles, you will run 27.2. Proceeds from the run are donated to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. I am running on behalf of the Wellmont Health System in Tennessee.

Wellmont Health System, a part of the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals has created the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Next Generation campaign to raise funds for much needed renovations. The entire project is expected to cost $2.5 million. Miracle Marathon runners like myself who are participating on behalf of Wellmont will be raising money for the Next Generation campaign.

According to Vickie Hungate, Assistant Director of Development for Wellmont,

“All monies raised from this event will support Children’s Miracle Network at Wellmont Health System and this year will help renovate and expand the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
 
The NICU operates at near-capacity and cares for premature infants born as young as 24 weeks, weighing as little as 15 ounces.  Close to 2,000 babies are born each year to our hospitals and more than 250 of these newborns need to be admitted to the NICU.  Of those, 60-80% are admitted for the treatment of complications of prematurity; some premature newborns need to stay in the NICU for several weeks and even months, as their bodies were born too little and too immature to sustain life on their own.
 
This ‘NICU Next Generation’ initiative will allow us to prepare for the next generation of miracle babies.“

I am asking my family, friends, and readers each to sponsor me for a day of the run. I am hoping to find 27 donors, but I would love to find more.

Can you spare at least $10 to donate? You can donate here.

I will post a photo on social media each day of the marathon showing when and where I plan to run with the hashtag #JessRunsMM, and I will acknowledge who sponsored me for that day.

If you decide to sponsor a day please leave a blog comment and let me know if there is a specific day you would like to sponsor; I will try to accommodate all requests.

You can also register for the Miracle Marathon here and choose a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital to support.