In 2010, Trace and Dena Sherrill founded Colton’s Main Street Run to honor the memory of their 10-year-old sonwhodiedfromanunknown heart defect and to provide life-saving medical equipment to the community.
The 17th annual Colton’s Run will be Oct. 17 at Market Square in downtown Durant. The fun run begins at 8:15 a.m. and the 5 and 10K runs start at 9 a.m.
Colton was diagnosed with a heart condition shortly after he was born.
When he was six, he underwent a procedure called balloon valvuloplasty where they go up inside where the heart valve is, and they inflate a balloon and stretch the valve. Colton was then monitored on a regular basis.
“But there was something wrong with his heart that wasn’t detectable, and Colton loved sports,” Trace Sherrill said. “He wasn’t under any restrictions as far as playing sports, so we wanted him to participate. So, he played soccer and baseball. He was at Southeastern basketball camp in 2008 and that’s when he collapsed, and he never recovered from that. He was 10 and going to be 11 in just nine days.”
Twoyearslater,theSherrills founded Colton’s Run to raise funds to provide Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to schools and other public places. Mr. Sherrill had an interest in running, and he ran the Oklahoma City marathon in2010.Friendssuggestedthat the Sherrills organize a run.
“So, we started thinking about it and decided that would be a good idea to honor Colton’s memory and we’ve recognized that there was a need to have these AEDs in schools and other places where people gather and we also wanted to do something as far as a scholarship in Colton’s name at Southeastern,” Mr. Sherrill said. “So, that’s where we started and over the years we’ve done things.
“That first year, we had 300 and something runners and we were just really happy and now we’re growing and we have 1,300, hopefully sometime 1,400, maybe this year. But we started in Bryan County. We contacted the schools and said, ‘Hey, we want to help you get AEDs in your schools, what are your needs?’ “So, after talking with them, we started with Durant and then just went out to all the county schools and started getting everybody where they had readily accessible AEDs because if something happens, a cardiac event, you need to be able to get to an AED and start helping someone within just a few minutes.”
Sherrill said that in 2025, Colton’s Run contributed $94,600 to the community.
Funds raised have assisted with providing lights to the soccer fields at the Durant Multi-Sports Complex, and many AEDs were purchased.
“We got AEDs recently for Calera Schools because we had donethosebefore,butweeither gave them more or replaced some older ones,” Sherrill said. “Also, for Durant High School, we got new batteries and pads for the AEDs.”
AEDs have also been provided to several churches and other non-profit entities.
The presenting sponsor is Cardinal FG that Sherrill said has been with them since the beginning, and there are many other sponsors.
Because it is the 250th birthday of the U.S.A., Colton’s Run wants to have a virtual runner from all 50 states, which the run did when it was virtual during COVID.
Sherrill said Colton’s Run continues to grow.
“Last year, I think we were around the 1,350 (runners) mark or maybe a little higher,” Sherrill said. “It’s been right about that the last couple of years, so we are hoping that maybe this year, with a push on the virtual stuff and trying to get those all 50 states, we can get around 1,400.”
AEDs are simple to use, according to Sherrill, and they all work the same.
“You don’t have to have any specialized training necessarily, but you hook the thing, you press the button, the machine will tell you what to do, where to put the pads,” Sherrill said. “It’ll do an assessment of the patient’s heart rhythms and then it will tell you if it thinks the person needs to have a shock or not and so in between, you just essentially follow the instructions.”
Colton’s also works with Bryan County EMS to provide AED training and CPR certification.
“Our initial focus on that was to make sure teachers, support personnel in the schools, if they needed that, we could help provide that to them and so we’ve used the Durant Fire Department and Bryan County EMS and different places to help provide that training,” Sherrill said.
In 2024, Colton’s received a grant from Texoma Health Foundation which allowed themtoplaceAEDsinMarshall County.
“The other thing we’ve done for schools is Stop the Bleed kits and also these anti-choking devices where if someone’s choking, it’s almost like a plunger with a face mask and you can put that over there and pop out whatever the obstruction is,” Sherrill said.
Colton’s also funded bleachers at the soccer fields and swing sets compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act have been placed in parks, so children with disabilities are able to use the swings.
Sherrill said they are very happy with the community’s support.
“We’re glad that it’s grown the way it has but no, in the beginning, I never really imagined that it would become what it’s become and we’re just very thankful for our community support and the support of our sponsors that come back and help us every year,” Sherrill said. “It’s really been amazing, the growth.”
Sherrill said they could not have Colton’s Run without all the volunteers.
“We have people at every intersection along the route to help control traffic, make sure runners are safe,” Sherrill said. “A lot of law enforcement is involved, Bryan County Sheriff’s Office, Durant Police Department, Highway Patrol, all the way through the people that make the breakfast burritos and the Main Street muffins. It takes quite a group to make things happen, so we’re just really excited this year and we have things on Market Square like for the little kids, bounce houses and little activities that they might enjoy and then of course, we’ll have music with Marshall Koontz and Wes Akin helping out with music and the sound up there on the stage.”
Pre-registration has ended but runners can still register online at coltonsrun.com or register in person on the day of the race.