Star Valley Half Marathon: The reason behind the race

Nine years ago, a Star Valley, Wyoming man was running a race in Las Vegas with his family, when he was killed by a drunk driver.

Jeremy Bart Kunz, had a lot of hobbies in his time on earth. He loved his wife and children and had a deep passion for running. For eight years, to honor his memory, his family has hosted the Star Valley Half Marathon to remember him.

Every July near Jeremy Kunz’s birthday, his parents Bart and Denice put on the Star Valley Half Marathon to honor their son’s memory.

“My wife and daughter came up with the idea and are the instigators if you would the driving force behind all of this,” said Bart Kunz. “We decided this would be a great way to honor him on the Saturday closest to his birthday and invite them to come and enjoy the beauty of Star Valley, which in the summer, in my opinion, there is no place more beautiful than Star Valley.”

Thousands of hours are put in to prepare for the hundreds of people who come from across the country to participate in this race.

The Kunz’s use this race as a way to give back to the community and as a way to help others in need.

“We want to be able to help other people with the proceeds that we have, which we do at this time, we take the money that we earn from this and we find people, that got tragedies in their life and we help them with that financially,” said Bart Kunz.

Along the 13.1 miles, the Kunz family sets-up mile markers with pictures of Jeremy to serve as a way to honor him.

“It makes me happy that they do it to celebrate him and I like the pictures that they put up at the mile markers, and they’re all of him and it just keeps everyone reminded why they do it,” said Shaelee, a runner from Star Valley.

Running has been a big part of the Kunz family. They believe with this half marathon and the cause behind it, their son, their brother, husband, and father, would be proud of them all.

“Jeremy was always about encouraging other people, to make themselves better and so, if he were here today, physically, he would be cheering every single runner no matter if they finished first, or dead last. He would be cheering them on and congratulating them. So we’re trying to do that same thing because he was a real people person and wanted people to realize they can do hard things,” said Bart Kunz.

“He loved to share anything we did as a family and he would see this is bringing us a bigger family of runners that are sharing their lives with us this day. I think he would think it would be pretty good,” said Denice Kunz,

“Part of him, his humble side, would be ‘Oh why are you doing this? This is so crazy. My picture is on everyone’s medals and on shirts,'” said Melinda Lee, Jeremy’s recently remarried widow. “But I think he would be really proud of all of us and how we’ve all been able to pick up and move forward and do something positive with a really terrible situation.”

“I think he would be pretty proud of me, with helping and all and running the race. I think he’d be very proud, because once again, I’m not a runner, and I’m not very fast, but I kept on running in memory of him.” said Brinci, Jeremy’s daughter.

His oldest son Toby, was greeted by his siblings when he crossed the finish line. This is his second time completing in the Star Valley Half Marathon in honor of his dad.

His youngest son Gage has yet to participate in the race. He plans to do that next year, but adds running has a special place in his heart, especially running this race.

“I just want to feel closer to my dad,” said Gage. “It’s just like every time I run, I feel like he’s there.”

The Star Valley Half Marathon takes place every July. If you would like to learn more and where to sign up, visit www.starvalleyhalfmarathon.com.