JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Whatever you think a teenager does outside of school, it’s probably not catching a late-night flight across the country to run a mile. But since he was 10 years old, Zechariah Cartledge has spent his free time traveling to honor those who died defending that free time.
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“The experiences I’ve now had at 16 years old are probably more than any other 16-year-old you can think of,” said Cartledge.
Cartledge discovered his first career when he was 9 years old. He had the idea of founding Running 4 Heroes, now a Florida-based nonprofit hosting runs around the country to raise money for families of fallen first responders.
Cartledge is now 16 and has already run a total of close to 60 marathons. Those miles weren’t from marathon races, but the sum of more than 1,560 individual miles for an equal number of first responders around the U.S. who died during their service. From honoring state troopers to county deputies, city police, and town firefighters, Cartledge has traded Friday night lights for flights to honor their service, running a mile for every life lost.
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“Getting to hug a family member of a fallen first responder I’m running for and running for first responders, it’s definitely made me mature a lot,” Cartledge said.
Cartledge, who lives in Winter Springs, just drove to Jacksonville to add two more miles to his shoes. One of them is for Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Corrections Officer Brad McNew, who was shot and killed in October while off-duty. Another mile is being dedicated to Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department Engineer Heath O’Shea, who died in April after a medical emergency while on duty.
The miles in Jacksonville are the last time Cartledge says he’ll run in the River City for his nonprofit. His last run will be on December 30th, in Sanford. He says since he started the nonprofit as a kid, that’s how he’d like it to be continued. 10 other runners are going around the country for the nonprofit, carrying the mission he started back in elementary school.
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After all this time traveling to grieving communities, he hopes the lesson taken from his work isn’t so somber.
“If you have the support behind you and you really want to start something, you can do it at any age, and I learned that firsthand,” said Cartledge.
Cartledge says there are no plans for the nonprofit’s work to slow down, literally. If you’d like to learn where they’ll travel next or donate, click the link here.
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