Our 2016 children’s champions the Mercy Home Heroes gathered at our boys campus to celebrate the start of Marathon training season. With treats, a photo booth, running gear, and guest speakers, the event was a great opportunity for our marathon runners to meet one another, discover the benefits of being a Mercy Home Hero, and learn about how they would be making a difference in the lives of our kids.

Endurance Program Manager Katie served as emcee for the evening. She kicked off the event by welcoming runners and thanking them for their dedication to our young people, before introducing the first speaker of the night, Carey Pinkowski, longtime director of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Mr. Pinkowski, who has been instrumental in making our Mercy Home Heroes team a reality, expressed his pride and gratitude for being able to help our runners to make a difference.

Other speakers throughout the night included Joe Wronka, who provided our Heroes with more information about our Home; Ian McBride, a longtime friend and coworker of Mercy Home who shared how his father had inspired him to run his first marathon; Jonpaul Higgins of the Chicago Area Runners Association, and Mike Norman of Chicago Endurance Sports, who discussed their respective organizations’ training programs—examples of the many perks offered to all of our Mercy Home Heroes.

Thank you to Katie for ensuring our runners start their season on the right foot!