Jessica Hurlbut, a 36-year-old mother of five who adopted two of her own children out of foster care, wants to bring awareness to the 110,000 children waiting to be adopted in the U.S. by running 110 miles in 24 hours this weekend.



Despite the heavy snow that pounded the Northeast this week, Hurlbut set out on a course designed by herself and her husband, Gregory, on November 16. She plans to finish on November 17, which is National Adoption Day. The course will take her on a loop from her hometown of Massena, New York, to towns in the surrounding counties and back.

Aid stations will be set up every 5 to 12 miles and manned by volunteers from local foster care agencies and other community members who are cheering her on.



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Hurlbut says she plans to complete the run in 24 hours, and updates will be made to a Facebook page to show her progress. Along the way, she also wants to highlight families who have adopted children out of foster care and stats on foster care and adoption—anything that will bring more awareness to the cause.

“I don’t think people have enough information [about the adoption process],” Hurlbut said. “My desire is that instead of 110,000 kids waiting to be adopted, there’s a waitlist of families who want to adopt.”

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About six months ago, Hurlbut started putting the idea of this run out on social media. So far, the response has been overwhelming. She said people will call, email, or message her wanting to find out more information about foster care and how they can get involved in the process.

“It’s really cool to make those connections,” she said. “As someone who has been there, done that it’s great to be able to share information with others.”

Hurlbut knows her run will be physically and mentally challenging, but she said she feels prepared. She has been planning this run for about a year, and training for six months. Her training runs begin after she takes her kids to the bus in the morning, and she said sometimes she’s still running when the bus gets back.

Because Hurlbut is going back to school to get a master’s degree in childhood education at SUNY Potsdam, she has to fit her long runs in around both her kids’ and her own school schedules. This means focusing on long runs on Thursdays and Fridays and fitting in smaller training sessions throughout the week.

The farthest she’s ever run is a 50 miler a few years ago, and she has done some trail runs to prepare, but nothing like what she’s about to take on with the 110 miles. She also competed on American Ninja Warrior in 2016 with the hope of getting the word out about the need for foster and adoptive families.

“I’m not sure anyone can ever be [physically] ready to run 110 miles, but I’m ready mentally,” Hurlbut said. “I want to bring attention to the Adoptuskids.org website, where you can see kids that need to be adopted, and challenge people to look at the site or consider the idea [of adoption].”

Jordan Smith Digital Editor Her love of all things outdoors came from growing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and her passion for running was sparked by local elementary school cross-country meets.

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