The first five races, Chris Boysen ran the actual marathon.

He wasn’t a runner before that. But it was part of the deal he pitched. The First Tennessee Memphis Marathon went kaput after the race in 2000. Boysen — now a senior vice president at ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — reached out to the Memphis Runners Track Club about reviving the race.

“I said that if they would work with us and make it happen, I would become a runner,” he said.

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And that’s what happened. Boysen was one of 2,800 runners who participated in the first St. Jude Memphis Marathon in 2003.

Then the race kept getting bigger. And bigger. And bigger. And bigger. 

Boysen realized he had to be on hand and available during the actual race. So he came up with another plan.

“I started running the route before the race,” he said. “I’ll be up at 3:30 a.m. and I’ll run the half marathon or a 10K.”

That’s right. Boysen runs the race — and then he runs the race.

“I just feel better if I’ve been out there and run it,” he said. 

One year, Boysen set off on his early morning run and headed down Beale Street, which used to be part of the course.

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“There was a guy sweeping,” he said. “It was either real late or real early, depending on what you had been doing that night. But this guy was sweeping, and he looked up and saw me running alone and said, ‘You’re going to win this M.F.-er, aren’t you?’”

And you know what?

That street sweeper was right.

By any definition, Boysen has won. Just as St. Jude has won. Just as Memphis has won, too.

Thursday morning, hundreds of volunteers in red T-shirts streamed into the Renasant Convention Center to prepare for the 22,500 runners who will run or walk or skip or otherwise make their way through Downtown Memphis Saturday, Dec. 7, as part of the 23rd St. Jude Memphis Marathon.

It was a joyous scene. And a happy antidote to the wailing and self-flagellation that was unfolding on social media because (check notes) a tired chain restaurant closed down.

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“It’s crazy,” Kevin Kane, the president and CEO of Memphis Tourism, said of the event. “You won’t be able to get in a restaurant tonight. Downtown will be packed. All the hotels are pretty much full this weekend. This thing is turning into something that I don’t think any of us were expecting.”

And why did it happen?

Because Boysen and others at ALSAC — especially Dwight Drinkard, who died earlier this year — decided to make it happen. Because they saw something that had failed and thought that maybe they could pitch in and help.

They could have said: “Oh, look, the old marathon failed. This is awful, further proof that nothing will ever work in this town. Let me broadcast that dispiriting message to all of my friends.”

Instead, they said: “Hey, maybe we can breathe new life into that marathon. Maybe we can do something good.”

Twenty-three marathons later, runners will be coming to Downtown Memphis this weekend from 82 countries and all 50 states. But you know what’s even better?

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They’ll be coming from Bartlett, too. And Collierville. And Millington. And Hernando. And West Memphis. And all over the Mid-South.

“We have an influx of people running to Downtown Memphis,” Kane said. “The power of this race is incredible.”

There are bigger races across the country, of course. But quick, without looking, what does the New York Marathon stand for? Chicago? L.A.?

The St. Jude Memphis Marathon stands for defeating childhood cancer. It’s right there in the name. And if you ask any of the 22,500 runners why they are participating, they will answer — usually before you can get the question out — “for the kids.”

Shelley Borghi started volunteering after her husband died of brain cancer. She takes two vacation days from her job as a tech recruiter to do whatever she can to help.

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“I get very emotional doing it,” she said. “I tear up.” 

What caused her to tear up Thursday morning?

“Seeing the droves,” she said. 

The droves of volunteers, she meant. All wearing their red shirts. All dealing with traffic and parking and whatever else was happening in their lives to show up by the thousands to pitch in.

That’s the Memphis worth broadcasting. That’s the example to emulate.

And, yes, Boysen plans to get up and run another 10K before the race Saturday. 

Even though he’s already won.