When the first St. Jude Memphis Marathon was run on Dec. 7, 2002, 2,846 runners laced up for the course that traced a path from Downtown to Midtown on a day when the temperature reached 50 degrees.

Jonas Holdeman, a track coach at the University of Memphis, won the men’s event with a time of 2:34:47. Russian runner Tatiana Maslova won the women’s event with a time of 2:46:38. Each took home a prize of $3,000, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital raised an estimated $200,000 from the event.

“Our intent from the beginning was to bring a spotlight to Memphis and to St. Jude and to raise money,” said Chris Boysen, a senior vice president with ALSAC, the hospital’s fundraising arm. “We had a feeling that we could do some good and raise some significant funds with an event like this and capitalize on the running craze.”

St. Jude plans new 16-story tower Downtown

More than 20 years after that first running, the St. Jude Memphis Marathon is back again, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7, on a 26.2-mile course that again loops through Downtown and Midtown. Temperatures will be chilly at the start of the race, hovering around freezing, but should approach a high of 54 as the day wears on.

With the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in mind, can you solve this week’s word search?

Don’t forget, if you need help, there’s an “Assist” dropdown near the top right of the puzzle. 

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