After he was inspired by Cape Girardeau native Shannon Aldridge, a Dexter, Missouri, principal was selected to be on the 2020 St. Jude Heroes Boston Marathon team.

Scott Kruse, principal of T.S. Hill Middle School, was selected for the 10-person national team after an application and interview process this fall.

Aldridge, whose daughter Sahara died in 2007 of a brain tumor, spoke to a leadership class at the middle school last year. After hearing Aldridge speak, Kruse said he began looking into the Boston Marathon for himself.

“I get to keep up with him a lot,” Kruse said of Aldridge. “He is one inspiring man. His attitude is a beautiful thing.”

Kruse is the only Missouri resident on the national team and said it’s an honor to represent the area.

“There’s only 10 of us in the U.S., and, you know, Shannon was one of 10 last year,” Kruse said. “You kind of feel like you want to represent a little bit.”

As part of the chance to run in the Boston Marathon — which will be held April 20 — Kruse said he committed to raising $10,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. After about 60 days, he’s nearly reached that goal with more than $9,170 raised.

His new goal? $20,000. But he plans to wait until after the holidays to begin a more public campaign.

“It’s Christmas, and I’m going to respect that,” Kruse said. “People got gifts to buy and everything like that.”

Scott Kruse, left, runs alongside his lifelong friend David Robinson during the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on Saturday in Memphis, Tennessee.Submitted

Kruse’s tie to St. Jude stems from an experience he said most people will never have.

It was nearly Christmas in 2006 when Kruse’s youngest daughter, 3-year-old Andie, got sick. After some blood work was done, Kruse said her doctors were “99% sure” she had Leukemia. So the Kruse family canceled their Christmas travel plans and spent a few days at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Unlike many families who begin journeys with sick children at the hospital known for its unique no-cost care, the Kruse family would soon be leaving with no bill and miraculous news: then 3-year-old Andie didn’t have cancer, not even close.

“The doctor came into the room and floored us and said, ‘You don’t even need to be here,’” Kruse recalled. “They sent us home with what they called a ‘Christmas miracle.’

“It was an amazing glance at St. Jude from a view that you can’t get just going on a tour,” Kruse said.

In the years since then, Kruse has dedicated much of his life to giving back to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

From left, Lisa Musgrave, Kerri Kruse, Andy Paladino, Scott Kruse, David Robinson, Kip Musgrave and Bobbi Kay Parker pose for a photo.Submitted

In 2000, before Andie was even born, Kruse started 18 FORE LIFE, a not-for-profit organization aimed at providing financial support to families with a cancer diagnosis. The name was “pretty random,” Kruse said of the organization named for golf’s 18 holes.

Kruse calls that support “love offerings,” which typically take the form of $1,000 checks. To date, Kruse said his organization has given more than $2.6 million to families battling cancer.

“We just raise the money and send it out,” Kruse said.

Though he is set to compete in one of the largest marathons in the U.S., Kruse has not always been a runner. In fact, he disliked running when it wasn’t done during a sport.

“I hated running because, being an athlete, [in] the sports I played, if you ran, you were in trouble,” Kruse said with a laugh. “I always wanted to avoid the running.”

That changed in 2004 when his brother Ben was killed in an accident.

“I took up running kind of just for my mind,” Krause said. “I felt like I was running from something. When you have a tragic loss, you’ve got your grief and you’ve got your pain and you’ve got all these negative things going on. If you go for a run ... it’s like therapy.”

Kruse participates each year in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, which he ran this past weekend.

In addition to the love offerings, 18 FORE LIFE also holds an annual golf tournament in the summers named in honor of Ben’s memory.

“It’s been a wonderful tribute to my brother,” Kruse said of the Ben Kruse 18 FORE LIFE charity golf event.

At his school in Dexter, Kruse said students are eager to help fundraise and have created a few of their own “minor, small” fundraisers.

“The school goal is to raise $1,000 before April,” Kruse said. “It’s just kind of cool ... just to have that support just makes you feel really, really good.”

Of the community’s support, Kruse said, “When we’re in a community area like ours, Southeast Missouri, it’s just one of the most generous regions that I’ve ever seen. ... These people, they give. They support each other and get behind each other.”

Because this is the second year in a row a Southeast Missouri runner has been selected for the St. Jude team, Kruse said he hopes the tradition will continue.

And though his chance at the Boston Marathon is one he said many runners have on their “bucket lists,” Kruse hopes his journey will teach people more about St. Jude.

“St. Jude is a place where miracles do happen,” Kruse said. “ ... I had a substitute teacher who was also a preacher, and when he heard me say that they had said 99% [chance of a Leukemia diagnosis], he said, ‘God loves those odds.’”

To support Kruse’s fundraising efforts, mail a check made out to St. Jude, c/o Scott Kruse at 705 Laurie Circle, Dexter MO 63841, or visit his fundraiser page at www.tinyurl.com/txpjfhd.