Lucy Fish
Contributing Writer
Students help host the Jim Schoemehl Run to fight against ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The run is set to take place on May 2, starting outside of Roberts Gym.
The run was created by a former student when a teacher’s husband, Jim Schoemehl, was diagnosed with ALS. Schoemehl passed away in 2003, but his legacy continues on through the annual run, raising money to help families with members affected by ALS. This year, the beneficiaries for the run are Emily Khan and Dave Komor, who are both battling ALS.
Emily Khan, a Nerinx Hall alum, was diagnosed with ALS in December 2024. Dave Komor, a CBC alum, was diagnosed with ALS in February of 2025. The money raised from the Jim Schoemehl Run is distributed to the beneficiaries and their families, to help support the financial needs that ALS has.
Offering 5k and 10k options, the run is designed to bring awareness to ALS while helping families who have members with ALS. While running is not required, the marketing class still has ways for people to support, such as volunteering to help with race-day necessities or donating to help the sponsored families and the ALS Association.
Students in the marketing class were given different positions to help coordinate the run. Some positions are Social Media, Promotions, WGSD Promotions, Website Curator, etc. Senior Owen Hartwig has the position of Co-Chairperson, along with senior Brig MacMullan.
Hartwig explained what his job entails and what he has to do to successfully coordinate the run.
“We plan the run after our experiential trip to New York. Through the ALS Association, there are individuals in the community who have been affected by ALS, and we get in contact with them to help them along their journey. From there, we run for a spot on the board for a run, and once we have been given a position, we start fulfilling our duties where we oversee all operations of the run and are in charge of effectively communicating with the beneficiaries and monitoring our peers to make sure they are doing things to benefit the run, as well as ensuring that the run will go smoothly on the day of,” Hartwig said.
Hartwig added if students do not or can not run, volunteering to help on the day of the run, donating or engaging with and sharing social media posts about the run are also encouraged and helpful.
Senior Elliot Blew, working as the VP of race day operations, said they use Jim Schoemehl Run’s from the past to understand how it has been planned previously, and that they talk to people who were part of previous runs to see what worked well and what didn’t work. Blew also explained the purpose of her role, and what she does to help have the run move smoothly.
“My job is to coordinate with city hall to make sure the permit for the run is approved, communicate with families if their houses are on the race course, arrange for cones to be dropped off, etc. Most of my role is arranging things for the actual race day. And of course spreading awareness about ALS, our beneficiaries, and the run,” Blew said.
Blew shared that each marketing class period they’ve had has been strictly for the Jim Schoemehl Run, explaining that there are so many parts of the run that have to be coordinated and arranged so the students will work up until race day to guarantee everything planned goes correctly.
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