RunTough 2025

🏃‍♂️ Race Overview

ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation is excited to announce our 12th Annual RunTough event, which will be held both virtually and in person at Saline High School's Hornet Stadium in the afternoon on SUNDAY, September 28, 2025. RunTough is the foundation’s longest-running event, and it has been completely reimagined for this year!

🎉 New Event Highlights

The 12th Annual RunTough will have NEW and EXCITING ways to participate:

• NEW RACE FORMAT: Join us in person for a 1M "Tough Run" off-road race in which you will run or walk through the grassy fields of the Saline High School cross country course! (Keep an eye out for some fun surprises along the way!)
• NEWLY ADDED COMPETITION: PUNT, PASS, & KICK COMPETITION! (LOCAL ONLY) — Open to all ages, including adults!
• FOOD TRUCKS: & FAMILY FUN ZONE (LOCAL ONLY) — Come for the competitions, stay for the Family Fun Day in the Hornet Stadium parking lot! In addition to our usual kids games and activities, we are adding FOOD TRUCKS this year!
• TOT SPRINT: (LOCAL ONLY) — Back by popular demand, we will once again host the adorable Tot Sprint on the main Hornet Stadium football field at 1:45pm for our toddler crowd!

🌐 Virtual Participation

• VIRTUAL 5K: WITH OR WITHOUT A SHIRT — You can register for our virtual race with or without a shirt. You choose the date, the time, and the location to run, walk, or do the activity of your choice (or not — we won't tell!). If you register for a shirt, we’ll mail you a race packet. VIRTUAL REGISTRATIONS AFTER 9/3/25 WILL NOT RECEIVE THEIR PACKETS IN THE MAIL UNTIL OCTOBER!
• ADDITIONAL EFFORTS: For more information about efforts being led by our Family Partners as well as other families affected by pediatric brain cancer, please go to www.chadtough.org/runtough. Information for these efforts will be updated as it becomes available.

📅 Event Details

Packet pickup for the local Saline event will be Friday, Sept 26, from 12-6pm at the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation office in Saline (201 W. Michigan Ave) or starting at 12pm on event day at Hornet Stadium.

Please note that NO DOGS are permitted at this event!

📖 History of RunTough

RunTough originated in 2014 when a group of neighbors in the Saline area came together in support of Chad Carr, a 3-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer called DIPG. Since then, RunTough alone has raised over $2 million for pediatric brain cancer research and inspired more than 19,000 registrants.

Brain cancer kills more kids than any other type, and DIPG is responsible for almost half of all pediatric brain cancer deaths. With a nearly 0% survival rate and less than 1% of federal cancer research funding earmarked for ALL types of pediatric brain cancer, it’s no surprise that the standard of care has not changed in the six decades since Neil Armstrong’s daughter died of DIPG. But thanks primarily to DIPG families like the Carrs, who have channeled their grief into an effort to fund game-changing research on DIPG, doctors have begun to discover breakthrough treatments that are showing great promise, so much so that they now believe a cure will be found in our lifetime.

All proceeds will go to the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation, whose mission is to inspire and fund game-changing research to discover effective treatments for pediatric brain cancer, with an emphasis on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Brain cancer kills more kids than any other type of cancer, and DIPG is responsible for almost half of all pediatric brain cancer deaths. Finding effective treatment options for this complex disease is one of the best ways to save kids from cancer!

To learn more about the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation, go to www.chadtough.org.