MICHIGAN, USA — On Saturday, three West Michigan women are leading the charge, running from the Michigan-Indiana border all the way to the Mackinac Bridge to raise funds for breast cancer research.
The women met in a local running group, Run Caledonia Run, which meets several times a week for group runs.
While stuck inside during the height of the pandemic, they began brainstorming different running events to host with a meaningful cause. The Border to Bridge Run was born, with the inaugural run kicking off Saturday.
They’ve been planning now for the last year, training on the weekends with 40-mile runs on Saturday. Then, another 40 miles on Sunday.
Leischen Jacobs, one of the co-founders, tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE that she knows it will be a grueling process, but says there’s one thing that will help to keep them going.
“Two years ago, I lost a friend who left behind six young kids fighting breast cancer,” said Jacobs.
“So, so many of us have been impacted by it and that’s our ‘why’ and so as we’re going through this week, we know it’s going to be painful. We know the days are going to be really hard sometimes and we’re just going to be exhausted physically and mentally but that’s our ‘why,'” said the co-founder, who is working alongside Becky Bravata and Liz Burnis to organize the event.
They will kick off the Border to Bridge Run starting just south of Sturgis at the Michigan-Indiana border. They hope to reach Caledonia by Sunday and Grand Rapids on Monday.
The goal is to reach the Mackinac Bridge one week from Saturday, running 40 to 50 miles each day.
They say they’ve already raised some $15,000 and they’re hoping to raise, at least, another $10,000 before reaching the Mackinac Bridge. 100% of proceeds will benefit breast cancer research at the Van Andel Institute.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.