42 miles for 42 Strong

By Don Rush

Many people run, or jog, for exercise or for fun. A mile here, six miles there, a 5K race in town and some even run a marathon in Boston. Oxford Township resident Jaclyn Eldridge, 40,had already run the 26.2 miles Boston Marathon and then topped that by running 42 miles in one day last month. Her run helped raise funds for the 42 Strong – the Tate Myre Foundation, a peer-mentor program.

The group was started by the family of slain OHS student Tate Myre who lost his life Nov. 30, 2021 along with classmates Hana St. Juliana, Justin Schilling and Madisyn Baldwin. 

According to the 42 Strong website www,42StrongTate.org, “Our mission is to create a better future by helping students develop a greater sense of purpose, community and resilience . . . Growing up can be tough. Having a friend that you trust can make it a lot easier. Friendships matter. Love matters. Building a sense of community matters. Being part of something bigger than yourself matters. Tate embodied these traits. He sought mentors to help with his personal growth. He then took time to help others and encourage everyone to be their best.”

Eldridge is a Mentor Team leader for 42 Strong. “I wanted this run to be bigger than just me. I want to use my abilities to give back to our 42 Strong Peer Mentorship Program,” she said before her Sept. 18 run.

“I started around 6 a.m. and completed the 42 miles at 1:42 p.m., just under eight hours,” she said. “From the dark humid morning, through the rain, and hot afternoon, the run was tough, but Tate Myre’s words ran through my mind all day. ‘We didn’t quit. We grinded, worked everyday. We trust each other. We love each other and we just started building week by week by week. And here we are.’ His statement was originally applied to football but can resonate to all aspects of life. From running to what we have with the 42 Strong Foundation. I honestly couldn’t have completed the run without the love and support from friends, family, neighbors, and members of 42 strong. There were runners and bikers with me along the way the entire day.”

Her route was a 4.2 mile loop from her driveway around the Waterstone community and back to her driveway. “I repeated it 10 times,” she said.

Later that day, at the monthly 42 Strong Mentors and Mentees meeting she informed the group her run had raised over $6,000 for the program. “The money raised will directly go into an activity fund that will allow them to continue to build their relationships with each other by doing fun things in our community,” she said. “I feel so blessed to have been able to complete this run, and grateful to be a part of the 42 Strong Foundation.”

The foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which matches mentors, who are 10th through 12th grade students at Oxford High School, with “mentees,” 6th through 9th grade students. Mentees and mentors are paired together partially on the mentees’ preference and based on responses to application questions.

The foundation has about 250 Mentors and Mentees who are supervised and supported by 16 adult Team Leaders. The foundation is run by a seven-member board of directors.