Former Charles City resident part of high school team effort to support brain cancer research

Based on a report by Chelsie Brown, KCRG.com, Reprinted with permission, (c) KCRG-TV 9

A former Charles City resident is part of an effort to raise funds to fight brain cancer, in honor of a student at the school where he teaches and coaches.

Over the last five years, the Union High School cross country team in La Porte City, a community southeast of Waterloo, has established a tradition during homecoming week of running the game ball to the high school. The run is a fundraiser that has typically gone toward new uniforms or equipment.

This year, the team decided to have all the donations go to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital to help support pediatric brain cancer research. It’s a cause close to the Knights as their teammate Kate Craft continues her battle.

Craft, a sophomore, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2020. Earlier this summer, the cancer spread to her back. She’s still receiving chemotherapy, but decided to go out for cross country this year to help get her strength back.

The Run For Kate hits home with cross country head coach Justin Parson, a Charles City High School graduate.

“I lost my father to brain cancer,” Parson said. “When she said she wanted to be a part of the team, I thought we’ve got to do something. The idea was to just try and raise funds and do what we could to help the people that really took care of Kate when she was first airlifted to the University of Iowa.”

Parson’s father, Lee, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2001 and died in 2008. Parson’s mother, Dorothy, still lives in Charles City.

“She’s a fighter. She’s a gamer,” Parson said about Craft. “She’ll be the first one to tell you she doesn’t like to run, but just this week she ran a 5K over at Jesup and her teammates came and finished the race with her.”

Craft said, “My main sport is basketball, and I’m obviously not in the best shape after three brain surgeries, so I decided to join (cross country) and walk to get in better shape.”

She said she decided to run the Jesup 5K because she felt she was ready for something more challenging.

Parson said seeing her fellow cross country runners finish that 5K with her “was just truly an uplifting moment for our team.”

The fun run fundraiser that leads up to the homecoming week football game begins at the school district middle school in Dysart, then cross country team members run over gravel roads and other less-traveled roads more than 15 miles to take the game football all the way to the high school football field in LaPorte, where they hand it off to the referees.

Sophomore Amilia Condon, a fellow cross country runner, said, “Making this about her was just really important to us. We wanted to do something special for her because she means a lot to us.

Junior Sydney Antone said, “Kate is an amazing person. The community just wanted to give in for Kate and just help. We wanted our fun run to mean something.”

The team had set a goal this year of raising $5,000 to donate to the University of Iowa hospital. It shattered that mark by raising more than $11,000 as a testament to Craft.

Junior Lauren Youngblut said, “It shows how close our community is and how willing they are to pick everybody up. It’s super awesome to see it because I know if I was in that situation, I’d want to be as supported as she is.”

Craft said, “It just makes me feel so good that so many people care about me and want to do this.”