In honor of Christopher Wilke, a 12-year-old boy who died from bile duct cancer on March 20, 2014, Burbank resident and ultra marathon runner Roy Wiegand is planning to run for 24 hours, covering 100 miles to raise $25,000, from Children’s Hospital of Orange County with a stop along the way at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, ending at the finish line at the Burbank Tennis Center on July 4. Festivities including food, games and fun will welcome Roy, with the public invited to attend. All proceeds from this run will go to the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children’s Cancer.

Wiegand’s son and Wilke were in the same Boy Scout Troop, and Wiegand was “blown away” by the amazing effect Wilke had upon so many people in his community. At the rosary for Wilke, Wiegand heard so many stories about Christopher that he decided to do something to honor him. Based on his experience of previous years of running he decided to make his challenge run a fundraiser  “It really spoke to me,” said Wiegand, who for the past five years has done challenge runs to raise money for Lifewater International, an organization that builds water wells in developing countries. Last year Roy ran from Angels Stadium in Orange County to Santa Clarita and raised more than $12,000 along the way.

During the Run for Christopher July 3- 4, Wiegand is inviting anyone who is interested to come out and run with him. A map and timeline will be posted on www.mhf.org. Roy can be followed on twitter @RoysRun- We will be tweeting before during and after the run.

This year, Team Christopher and Skin Cancer Stinks (skincancerstinks.org) have teamed up to benefit the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children’s Cancer. Leah is a 12-year-old, stage 3 melanoma skin cancer survivor who started Skin Cancer Stinks! With the help of celebrities, and people across the nation, Leah is spreading her message about skin cancer prevention and early detection to help save lives. Leah is honoring Christopher Wilke and his memory, supporting the Michael Hoefflin Foundation, and raising cancer awareness, by running alongside Roy for the first three miles and the last three miles.

Leah and celebrity Jordan Fisher Sea Cat from Disney’s Teen Beach Movie will deliver gifts at Children’s Hospital of Orange County at 10:00 a.m., before run. The run will begin at 11:00 a.m. in front of CHOC on La Veta by Globe. Cross country runners who are cancer patients will run at the start with Leah and Roy. Roy will be at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles at 8 a.m. to deliver gifts on Saturday, July 4.

For more information, please visit www.mhf.org.

The Michael Hoefflin Foundation for children’s cancer is a public non-profit 501(c) (3) foundation serving children and families touched by pediatric cancer in the Santa Clarita and surrounding valleys. For more information please contact us at (661) 250-4100 or go to www.MHF.org.