Conant grad running across U.S. in memory of Schaumburg pastor
Though she never ran cross-country, Conant High School alumna Kristin Decker will run across the country this summer to raise awareness and funding for young adults with cancer, honoring the memory of one in particular who meant so much to her.
Decker said she found the motivation for such a huge undertaking in her friendship with the late Rev. Matt Peterson, former youth pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg.
Peterson died at the age of 41 in 2011, after a two-year battle with multiple myeloma - a cancer affecting the bone marrow.
That was the same year Decker graduated from Conant in Hoffman Estates. She graduated this year from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Decker will be part of the 28-member running team of 4K For Cancer, hoofing it relay-style for 4,000 miles from San Francisco to Baltimore between Sunday, June 14, and Saturday, Aug. 1.
All her intensive preparation for the trek began only five months ago.
"I was never really a cross-country runner, but I would just run for fun," she said of her running experience. "I think it's going to be life-changing. It's going to be one of the most inspirational things I've ever done."
The run will reach the Chicago area on July 15, when the team will spend the night at St. Peter in Schaumburg.
On each day of the run, Decker will get up at about 4:30 a.m. and be driven by van to her starting point for the day. Participants will run in pairs for 8 to 16 miles each day.
The rest of the day will be spent speaking to the public along the way about how cancer affects people between the ages of 18 and 35 and awarding scholarships to young adults with cancer.
Though the entire team is running for a common cause, each member has chosen a different individual to honor through the event.
Each member must raise $4,500 just to start the run. Decker already has raised $8,561 and is aiming for $10,000.
Potential contributors can visit her donation page at 4kforcancer.org/profiles/kristen-Decker.
Lynne Peterson, Matt's mother, said she and her family are touched by Decker's gesture.
"She's a very special young lady," Lynne Peterson said of Decker. "She and my son were able to help each other. She and Matt were good friends."
Decker's father works for United Airlines and was able to acquire and pass on air miles that allowed Matt to make frequent, often long-term stays at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute in Little Rock, Arkansas, during his battle with multiple myeloma. Lynne would accompany him on this trips.
Matt Peterson was a 1988 graduate of Conant, who went on to become vicar at St. Peter in August 2009. His mother said it's rare for a vicar to be assigned to his hometown church.
Matt Peterson died in early November 2011. He was survived by his wife, Janet, and their now teenage daughters, as well as his parents.