When Mercy Home Hero Matt Hennessy was 10 years old, he nearly scared his parents to death.
His family had moved to the suburbs of Chicago from Quincy, Ill in 1985. His father and grandfather both worked at the Fannie May candy factory on West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago, which sat directly across the street from Mercy Home on the city’s near West Side at the time.
In 1987, Mercy Home celebrated its 100th anniversary with Centennial 10K race. The start line was located near the Home and Fannie May, which signed on as the event’s principle sponsor. According to Hennessy, the company asked his grandfather to represent Fannie May and its charitable support of Mercy Home by running the first few blocks. Hennessy said his grandfather asked him to run it with him.
At that point in his young life, Hennessy had no concept of what it meant to participate in a distance running event.
After the pair completed two blocks, Hennessy’s grandfather told the boy that it was time to stop and return to his parents back near the start line.
But those few blocks turned out to be a mere warm-up for the eager ten-year-old who told his grandfather he wanted to complete the race. The grandfather waved him on and told him to go for it.
Hennessy galloped down Jackson Boulevard toward the skyscraper canyons of Chicago’s Loop with no earthly idea where he was going.
Back at the starting line, Hennessy’s parents asked the returning grandfather where their son was. He proudly told them that the boy had run ahead to finish the race. They were terrified at the thought of their young child alone in a sea of strangers, running through a city he knew little about. More concerning was that Matt Hennessy was still making his way when the race ended and the streets opened for all cars and pedestrians, forcing him to navigate the crowded city sidewalks toward an unclear destination.
Back at the start line, his mom was frantic and called the police.
“My dad [was also] driving around [the city] trying to find me,” he said. “No one could find me.”
Thankfully, three other participants saw him, and guided him throughout the rest of the course to make sure he made it back to his parents safely.
Now back on track, Hennessy was determined to finish, no matter the passing cars and people along the way.
“[As]I'm running, I get across the [Chicago] river and there's three police cars with their lights flashing,” he said.
The police officers approached the boy and asked to verify his name. Relieved they found the missing child, they told him that his mother was in a panic looking for him.
But Hennessy was only a mile from the finish line and had no intention of stopping. The officers asked him what he wanted to do.
“I'm going to finish the race,” he said.
As soon as he crossed the finish line near Mercy Home and Fannie May, he was greeted by his mother with a fiery look in her eyes.
“[When I finished the race], my mom, dad, and my grandfather were there,” he said. “My mom grabbed me and threw me in the car. You could cut the tension in the car with a knife.”
Later, at dinner with his family, his grandfather showed up unannounced, holding a trophy for Hennessy in honor of his completing the race and winning his age division.
After that event, Hennessy took a break from running for many years. When he grew up, he became a music engineer and founded his own business, VSOP Studios.
But during a dark period of his life, he battled addictions. Thankfully, he has been clean and sober for over seven years, and he has New Balance’s running challenge, in part, to thank.
One day his friend who worked with New Balance reached out to him and challenged him to get outside and run every day during the month of May. Without hesitation, Hennessy accepted the challenge.
It was difficult at first, but he was committed to improving his life. Every day he would push himself to run one block further than the day before. After reaching two miles, he gained some momentum, and ran from his house in the West Loop to the Chicago Riverwalk, around the harbor and then back home, which added up to 10 kilometers.
Having just realized what he accomplished, something clicked… the Mercy Home Centennial 10k!
“[I told myself that] I have to run the whole route [from 1987],” he said.
In 2021, Hennessy’s grandfather passed away at 91. Hennessy saw it as a sure sign that he needed to run the Mercy route again as it was his grandfather who waved him on 30 years earlier. It felt like a wonderful tribute to a man who gave him so much in life.
The challenge was he could only vaguely remember the route he ran as a child decades ago. So, he decided to try and put the pieces together from his memory and run as best as he could remember it. He parked in front of Mercy Home, where he had started with his grandfather that day, and ran the whole Chicago Loop.
“I ran past that clock tower [on Jackson in the West Loop of Chicago], (seen in the picture with his grandfather in 1987) and felt my grandpa’s presence with me,” he said.
Since 2021, he has run numerous half marathons, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, the New York Marathon and is currently training for the Berlin Marathon.
He’s even inspired his son to run. He now runs on his high school’s track and cross-country team.
This year, Hennessy ran the Chicago 13.1 for the third time, this time as a Mercy Home Hero.
“I was looking for charities for the 13.1 marathon [in Chicago]and saw [Mercy Home],” he said. “It just felt right.”
The race was an opportunity for Hennessy to honor his grandfather, support our kids at the Home, and continue to become a healthier person. Even more, it was a great opportunity to bond with his son, Carter, who completed his second 13.1 with his dad.
Whether you are a returning Hero, retracing your steps from past races to support our kids, or you are gearing up for your first event with the team, we just want to say thank you for all you do.
