The Taylorville Kiwanis Club held their business meeting to review current Kiwanis Club activities for children and youth in the community at their weekly luncheon Tuesday at the Taylorville Memorial Hospital auditorium. The guest speaker was Chad Sutton .

Sutton gave a heartwarming story on his love for running. Although Sutton ran in high school with the cross country and track team, he started to take serious ownership of the hobby in 2009. Recently married and 100 lbs heavier, Sutton started running with the purpose of losing weight. He ran in the Chicago marathon where he hit a wall: heavy legs, closed lungs, and a shutdown body. His time: 5 hours, 46 minutes. In spite of the achievement of completing a marathon, Chad was still a little embarrassed and knew he had to make some adjustments to his purpose. At this this point he knew he still wanted to lose weight but also prove to himself that he could do better.

Sutton’s new goal was to lose weight and qualify for Boston within 5 years. During that time, his daughter Claire was born and became involved; moreover, his dad helped with training as well. Running has become a family hobby that has taken the Sutton’s to some fantastic places and has allowed them to meet other athletic icons as well. As for Boston, Chad completed the race in April 2016 with a time of 2 hours, 52 minutes. Sutton was quoted as saying “it’s important to have a purpose, a strong one.” His new purpose is to run for cancer research in his grandma’s name. The goal has been modified as well: Run a half marathon or longer in all 50 states… and Chad is off and running and well on his way!

The Taylorville Kiwanis Club is part of global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at noon at the Taylorville Memorial Hospital auditorium. For information on the club, go to taylorvillekiwanis.com.