Danny Maas, a sixth-grader in Santa Fe who loved running, was inspired by Terry Fox to start a run for cancer at Santa Fe Prep in 1981. Terry Fox, a Canadian teen with cancer, attempted to run across Canada with a prosthetic leg to raise awareness and money for cancer research. His cancer returned, and Fox was not able to finish his run. Danny Maas asked how he could help, and Terry Fox responded, “Continue my run because it’s not just my run, but everyone’s run.” Danny Maas continued the run with the help of his family and the Prep track team. Since then, the run has grown into a middle school tradition for our students.
Danny Maas went on to succeed in many aspects of his running career, including becoming a high school and collegiate All-American runner; he also dedicated his life to working in education. In the past 43 years, students participating in the Danny Maas Run have raised over $500,000, have run over a combined 30,000 miles for children with cancer, and have contributed $20,000 to the construction of the St. Vincent Hospital Cancer Wing. The committee, a group of Prep students who oversee the run and the endowment each year, changed the name of the run to Danny Maas in 2017 to honor Danny.
Sponsors are asked to pledge a dollar or more for each mile that participating students run. Students typically run around 12 miles and are not allowed to exceed 20 miles. After the run, pledges will be mailed back to sponsors with the distance their student ran and a request for the amount pledged. This year’s run is scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at El Rancho de las Golondrinas. Funds will be added to an endowment administered by the Santa Fe Community Foundation, and interest from the endowment is used to help families with children impacted by cancer.
Please contact Danny Maas Run faculty liaisons Chris Chakeres or Matt Mullins for more information. Click here to access the DMR Pledge Form.