The kids at Loving Daycare Center on Thompson Memorial Drive pedaled, triked, raced and rocked their way around the parking lot at Covenant Community Church to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The children raise donations or earn donations through pledges-per-lap.

The big wheels, tricycles, bicycles, and scooters were lined up and ready to go hours before the event. “My daughter Madisin called me first thing this morning and said ‘Daddy, bring my bike and make sure the training wheels are on!”’ said Shawn Witt.

“We’ve raised $3,500 during the last five years of the trikeathon,” director Jamie Ervine said, “whenever we raise $1,000, that’s enough for four spinal taps for families who can’t afford them.” St. Jude’s doesn’t require families to pay anything further than what their insurance covers, and patients without insurance are never asked to pay.

The kids made sure that the event was complete with wrecks, passes, and restarts. Chip Stephenson even had a pit stop with classmate’s father Randy Mosser and afterschool program instructor as the pit crew.