HOUSTON – The starting gun echoed across downtown Houston, and then the crowd surged forward—thousands of runners spilling into the streets, chasing finish lines and personal records.
But for one group woven into that moving sea, the race was never just about time.
They call themselves Team 27, a team created to honor 27 young girls who died in the catastrophic Hill Country flooding near Kerrville on July 4 last year, when the Guadalupe River rose with terrifying speed, destroying dorm rooms at Camp Mystic. 27 lives, 27 beautiful souls just starting out in life, gone in the dark rush of water.
On marathon morning in Houston, Team 27 ran with names on their hearts and grief in their throats and with a shared promise that the girls will not be remembered for how they died, but for the light they brought us all while they lived.
“Never in a million years…”— and then they ran
Around them, the city roared: cheers from the sidelines, shoes striking pavement, the rhythm of breath and determination.
For many on Team 27, the miles were deeply personal. Some were seasoned runners. Others stepped to the starting line with the kind of courage that doesn’t show up on a pace chart.
“Never in a million years did I think I was going to do a half marathon,” one runner said.
And yet they did—because love can pull people into places they never expected to go.
Running for Chloe and for the courage she showed
Among those running was Matthew Childress, whose daughter Chloe was a counselor at Camp Mystic and was killed in the flooding.
Childress calls his daughter a hero.
“I consider Chloe a hero,” he said. “Those counselors could have saved themselves and they stayed behind to help save those girls before the water got too high, so they gave their lives to save all those girls.”
This year’s marathon carried a weight Childress knows all too well. Last year, he ran the race with Chloe beside him—26 long miles, priceless moments that now live on as a cherished memory that will never fade away.
Asked if he will think about her in every race he runs for the rest of his life, Childress didn’t hesitate.
“I think about her every moment of every day,” he said. “And anytime I think about getting up and running again I will always think about the moment that she crossed the finish line and I got to celebrate with her”.
In a sport measured in seconds, that is the kind of moment that stretches beyond time.
A team built from grief and turned into purpose
Team 27 didn’t begin as a polished organization. It started as a ache that wouldn’t let go.
“The 27 girls that were lost July 4 just have absolutely been in my mind and on my heart non-stop,” said Annie McQueen, who helped start Team 27.
Lexie Boudreaux, another organizer, described the moment the idea became real.
“And I texted a friend of mine, Annie McQueen and I said, ‘Let’s run for the girls,’” Boudreaux said. “And she said, ‘Yeah… but we don’t have a team.’ I said, ‘Let’s create one.’”
That simple decision has now grown into something far larger than a single race day.
250 runners, one mission
Organizers say roughly 250 people, many of them close family members of the 27 girls, laced up to run this year’s race to raise funds for the Heaven’s 27 Foundation.
The foundation was created to keep the girls’ memory alive by funding causes that were close to their hearts, a way to turn unbearable loss into lasting good.
As of Tuesday night, Team 27 has raised more than $340,000 for the Heaven’s 27 Foundation.
It’s an extraordinary number. But what it really represents is a community refusing to let tragedy have the final word.
Ryan DeWitt’s promise: seven marathons, one daughter, and 26 sisters
For Ryan DeWitt, the mission is personal. His young daughter Molly was a camper who died at Camp Mystic.
DeWitt plans to run the seven biggest marathons in the world, a monumental commitment fueled by love, grief, and resolve to raise more money for Heaven’s 27 and to honor Molly and “her 26 sisters in heaven.”
“Tears were flowing for sure,” DeWitt said. “And we know Molly was looking down on us and was really proud of what we did.”
This is just the beginning
Team 27 organizers say they hope to form teams in every major Texas city, including San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, expanding the movement so that more people can run, raise funds, and carry the girls’ legacy forward.
Because for Team 27, the finish line isn’t an ending.
It’s proof that love still moves us, still carries us forward.
How you can help
If this story moved you, consider supporting the mission.
Donate to the Heaven’s 27 Foundation here.
Every gift helps fund causes that mattered to the girls most—providing mental health help, funding animal shelters and much, much more. It helps ensure their light continues to reach beyond the tragedy that took them.