COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon is pleased to announce the 2018 “Patient Champions” who will represent 24 of the 26 miles on the course. The other two miles, the Encore Mile, will honor former Marathon Patient Champions, and the Angel Mile, will celebrate the lives of those who are no longer with us.
A committee of hospital staff selected this year’s Marathon Patient Champions after a review of several inspiring patient stories submitted via the hospital’s social networking sites and nationwidechildrens.org. Patient Champions, current or former patients of Nationwide Children’s, were chosen based on various criteria, including diversity of diagnosis, age and enthusiasm to cheer on race participants at their mile. A full list of the Patient Champions is below.
To help fund the lifesaving research and care taking place at Nationwide Children’s, marathon and ½ marathon participants are encouraged to fundraise as “Children’s Champions.” 2018 marks the seventh year the hospital is the title beneficiary of the marathon, receiving a total of $7 million, including $800,000 from the Columbus Marathon Board of Directors.
Corporate or community organizations interested in becoming a partner in 2018 may contact Morgen Spon with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation at (614) 355-5419. To read more about the marathon Patient Champions and to support Nationwide Children’s, please visit Give.NationwideChildrens.org/Marathon-Patient-Champions
The 39th Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & ½ Marathon is Sunday, October 21, 2018 at 7:30 a.m. at North Bank Park. It is one of the Top 20 marathons in the United States. For more information, visit www.columbusmarathon.com.
The 2018 Patient Champions:
- CJ Bennett, 5, Dextro-Transposition of the Great Vessels, Columbus, Ohio 43220
- Hailey Blumenthal Weber, 15, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Lung Disease, Grove City, Ohio 43123
- Emily Braun, 5, Extreme Prematurity, Hilliard, Ohio 43026
- Adyn Bucher, 14, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Athens, Ohio 45701
- Kiera Cheatham, 5, OEIS Complex, Delaware, Ohio 43015
- Lance Czerwinski, 13, Gender Dysphoria, Delphos, Ohio 45833
- Sari Goldson, 17, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Bexley, Ohio 43209
- D’Marion Griffin, 10, Cerebral Palsy, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068
- Lauren Guminey, 6, Nager syndrome, Grove City, Ohio 43123
- Vincent Hochstetler, 8, Bilateral Profound Hearing Loss with Cochlear Implants, London, Ohio 43140
- Emma Johnson, 7, severe burns, Worthington, Ohio 43085
- Megan Kohlheim, 7, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Granville, Ohio 43055
- LeDarius Mayes, 7, Down syndrome, Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) Marion, Ohio 43302
- Aubry McClintic, 11, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Waverly, Ohio 45690
- Chloe McNally, 8, Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, Bexley, Ohio 43209
- Kya Miles, 15, Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, Columbus, Ohio 43227
- Ben Perry, 6, X-Linked Creatine Transporter Deficiency, Powell, Ohio 43065
- Jude Reichert, 6, VATERS syndrome, Hilliard, Ohio 43026
- Nigel Rich, 17, Type 1 Diabetes, Columbus, Ohio 43229
- Tayla Riddle, 5, Batten disease-CLN2, Grandview, Ohio 43212
- Max Staugler, 5, Kidney Transplant, Hilliard, Ohio 43026
- Ava Stevenson, 10, CHARGE syndrome, Columbus, Ohio 43219
- Alec Wesney, 17, Medulloblastoma, Rockbridge, Ohio 43149
- Daniel Whitsett, 5, Pierre Robin sequence, Congenital Limb Abnormalities, DeGraff, Ohio 43318