A 17-year-old Braidwood runner closed out a two-and-a-half-year streak of memorial miles this fall, finishing his 125th tribute run for first responders killed in the line of duty. Zachary Pruss, the son of firefighter and paramedic Ron Pruss, wrote 124 letters and ran 124 prior miles before his latest run marked the end of his run as a youth participant with Running 4 Heroes.
A Milestone Run With a Flyover
Local pilots provided a flyover for Pruss's 125th run, according to CBS News Chicago. Braidwood is home to one of just 14 Running 4 Heroes runners across the country, a point Eric Allen highlighted in describing how a small rural community came to carry that distinction. Pruss will step back from active youth running after this mile, since the program allows participants to run only until they turn 17.
The timeline around the milestone carries some ambiguity. CBS News Chicago reported the 125th mile as his latest achievement, while shawlocal.com, in its own account of a Braidwood City Council proclamation, put his total at nearly 125 miles completed since he began in April 2024 and said his final youth mile actually came on Sunday, Sept. 27. A separate account from citizenportal.ai described the council's proclamation as honoring more than 122 tribute miles. Those figures differ slightly depending on the source and date of counting, but all agree Pruss closed in on, or passed, the 125-mile mark during his youth-runner tenure.
Council Honors a Hometown Effort
The Braidwood City Council unanimously adopted an honorary proclamation recognizing Pruss and Running 4 Heroes, Inc., according to shawlocal.com. The same report noted Pruss is a Reed-Custer High School junior who, in August 2024, was identified as the only youth runner in the Midwest and one of seven selected nationally for the program. His father, Ron Pruss, serves as a firefighter and paramedic, a role that shaped the younger Pruss's connection to the cause from the start.
Pruss said connecting with the families of fallen first responders was probably the hardest part of the work, a reflection that underscores what each mile actually represents. Running 4 Heroes describes its mission simply: youth runners complete one mile for every first responder who makes the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, according to the organization's own About Us page. During each run, the group carries flags representing the red, blue, grey and green lines and K9 units, and afterward sends the carried flag to the fallen hero's family or agency along with a handwritten note.
What Comes Next for Pruss
Pruss plans to stay involved with Running 4 Heroes as a youth adviser and mentor to newer runners even after aging out of the youth program, per the same CBS News Chicago report. His father said he is proud of his son and considers him his hero, and separately said he feels first responders, especially police, have been demonized in recent history. Pruss himself aspires to become a commercial pilot.
Running 4 Heroes was founded by Zechariah Cartledge in 2019 and has added five additional youth runners since 2021, according to the organization's youth runners page. The nonprofit's own materials state it has awarded nearly $500,000 to more than 50 injured first responders since 2020, while a 2026 television report from WDAM put the organization's total at more than $500,000 in grants alongside more than 2,000 completed miles nationwide. Youth runners also earn $500 toward a scholarship fund for every 25 official miles they complete, per the nonprofit's about page.
Cartledge himself has logged an estimated 1,500 miles honoring fallen first responders and their families, according to WESH, which also reported the organization's growth into multiple states and a new facility in Winter Springs. Other youth runners have carried the mission elsewhere this year: the Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiled 16-year-old Andrew Collinson ahead of his own final run in July, and the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association documented 14-year-old Matthew Cona running alongside the PAPD Running Club and the family of fallen Officer Anthony Mezzacappa earlier this month. For Braidwood, though, the story stays close to home — a teenager who spent two and a half years running in honor of strangers' sacrifices, and who isn't quite ready to stop.
