Dexter man gears up for marathon run for St. Jude

DEXTER, Mo. — When Brett Dorton took up running a few years ago, it was for his own personal reasons. He wanted to shed a few pounds and it was a healthy habit to get into.

As he progressed in his running endeavors, he eventually felt confident enough to enter in a half-marathon, an event that is exactly as its name depicts.

"A full marathon," Dorton explains to a community not in "step" with the world of long distance running, "is a 26.2-mile run."

"After a few years of running," Dorton says, "I felt that I was ready to try some half marathons and ran a few last year."

Those included a run in Nashville, Tenn., and then one in Memphis, Tenn., that benefited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And it was during that run, on a cold December day in Memphis, that Dorton's purpose in running marathons changed.

"As I was running, I was talking to some of the other participants and I noticed more and more of the runners' shirts bore pictures and slogans and names and I asked about their significance."

The shirts and photos and banners that he saw on the sidelines of the run that day in Memphis were all a part of the St. Jude Heroes Program, through which funds are raised to support the research center that charges no fees to families of leukemia victims.

"I learned that the hospital runs totally on donations and that it takes $1,216,247 a day to operate the facility," Dorton says.

"I saw the grateful faces of adults who were treated at St. Jude's as children and I saw so many children who were in various stages of treatment and the moment I saw those faces, I made a commitment that if I ever ran a full marathon, I wanted it to be about something bigger than myself and I was determined to use the marathon as a way to support this very worthwhile cause."

On Oct. 12, Brett Dorton is going to make all the difference he can in the lives of children at St. Jude's, as he runs his first full 26.2-mile marathon. The race is the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, but runners may select from a list of sponsors that might benefit from pledges or donations made to the individual runners.

"I looked at the list and was so pleased to see that St. Jude's was among them. I signed up and have been seriously training ever since."

"Serious" seems to be the operative word when it comes to training for a 26.2-mile run. Dorton runs several miles daily, and keeps a journal of his training endeavors. After being hampered by a foot injury last year, he's into full swing, covering several miles a day, sometimes as many as 16, as he prepares for the full marathon, less than two months "down the road."

The Chicago marathon is a popular one, Dorton explains, because it is run on a flat route and during early fall, when temperatures should be at a comfortable level. The highest elevation is only 24 feet and temperatures in Chicago typically border around 60 degrees in mid-October.

The course is a colorful one, taking in the historic Grant Park near Buckingham Fountain near downtown Chicago and stretching through 29 historic and diverse neighborhoods in the city. The race typically takes around six hours to complete.

"It's one of the largest marathons in the world," Dorton notes. "There are about 45,000 runners registered from all 50 states and 119 countries and the city expects to accommodate over 1.5 million spectators."

Dorton, who is a vice president at Dexter's First Commercial Bank, has solicited friends, relatives and business associates in his quest to help make even the slightest difference in the lives of children who pass through the doors of St. Jude's and has been amazed at the generosity of the Dexter community and the area of Southeast Missouri.

Within just a couple of days after sending out his appeal and explaining his quest, he had nearly $2,000 in commitment to the children of St. Jude's.

"It's just incredible to realize how caring this community is," Dorton says, adding, "My wife and I have been blessed with three healthy children, but there are so many others who have not been so fortunate and I'm committed to do what I can as one person to better their children's survival chances."

In his request for sponsorship, Dorton asked friends to consider donating a minimum of $26, and he explains the significance of that dollar amount. "I know that's a strange amount to request, but donating just one dollar for every mile that I will run will go a long way to help fight childhood cancer.

"To train your body to withstand a 26.2-mile run is a grueling and demanding process. But it is totally insignificant compared to the battle that the children and the families at St. Jude's are fighting."

Anyone wishing further information or to make a donation to Dorton's cause is asked to contact him at 573-624-6328.