We are starting a Connecticut chapter of Medals4Mettle.
Shan, who's leading the effort, met with friends at Hartford Marathon Foundation to discuss ways to promote the new Medals4Mettle (M4M) CT chapter. During the call, someone suggested a running tour of CT, more specifically, a tour of all 169 CT towns. We thought it was a perfectly crazy idea, of course, and immediately added it to our 2025 calendar.
Let the fun, training, and planning begin!
169 towns, 1100 miles: Running CT for Medals4Mettle
You may not know this, but Shan’s first multi-day charity run was for M4M. It was in 2008 when M4M was branching out to Chicago from its founding chapter in Indianapolis. Shan wrote a series of blog posts (Windy2Indy) about his 195-mile, 51-hour run from Chicago to Indianapolis, which raised money and awareness for the organization. Today there are M4M chapters in 25 US States, Canada, and Japan.
Each of the M4M chapters, which are run entirely by volunteers, partners with hospitals to award medals to children (and adults) fighting disease. The medals, donated by endurance athletes, acknowledge the recipient for their mettle (courage, bravery, resilience). We aim to use this 2025 CTM4M to kickstart the CT Chapter, build community connections, and establish a self-sustaining organization. One that continues the M4M mission to “enable a human connection that symbolizes the compassion and kindness spread from one human to another during a time of crisis.”
The 2025 CTM4M route will start in New Haven, and pass through each of the 169 CT towns, covering 1100 miles before finishing with a celebratory run at the Hartford Marathon. Shan will run approximately 40 miles every day, running through 4-8 towns per day. At that pace he will finish in Hartford in 1 month. His amazing, loving, and beautiful wife, Josh, will be his crew chief, working her magic (planning, coordination, crewing, and spreadsheeting) behind the scenes. Also, a little birdie told us that there might even be a CTM4M bike tour as a teaser for the main event! Be sure to follow our social media for updates.
We would love your help
- Would you like to help with medal collection or donor registration events?
- Are you interested in supporting a fundraising event that will go towards M4M operational costs and cover the cost of ribbons and certificates for recipients?
- Would you like to be part of a group run (or bike ride) during the CTM4M?
- Do you know any podcasters, journalists, or photographers who might be interested in sharing our story?
- Do you know of any can’t-miss stops (food, scenic views, historic sites) in the towns we’re going through? Let us know, and we’ll do our best to work them into the route.
You can get in touch with us through our Contact Page. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us. This is going to be fun!
Footnotes:
Medals4Mettle: Medals4Mettle® (M4M) awards medals to kids and adults fighting debilitating diseases and illnesses to spread love, kindness, and encouragement. These endurance medals are donated by athletes from across the country and acknowledge the mettle (courage, bravery, resilience) of the recipient. Our M4M team and the donated medal, enable a human connection that symbolizes the compassion and kindness spread from one human to another during a time of crisis.
CT 169 Towns Society Check out their website for more information. Here is an excerpt from their homepage.
Mission Statement: Run 169 Towns Society, is a group of runners formed by individuals who aspire to run a race in every town in the State of Connecticut. Realizing that racing successfully in every Connecticut town may be a lifetime accomplishment, provided below is a set of definitions to recognize and validate runners’ attempts to achieve this goal. Ultimately, it is the runner, not the Society, which determines the obtainment of this achievement.
Shan's Windy2Indy: "In the middle of all this running, I met Dr. Isenberg through my work one day. I was touched by his story of starting up a small non-profit and was happy to volunteer to do my small part in Chicago. So far in Chicago, we have organized a small group of runners and donors through the Chicago Marathon and have donated medals to the Children's Memorial. Since I started volunteering for M4M, I have wanted to do something to raise awareness and funds for the organization. Since I was from the Indianapolis area, doing a Chicago to Indianapolis run seemed like the right idea."
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