Zechariah Cartledge has always had a deep respect for First Responders, and developed a passion for running when he was only 5 years old. At the age of 7, Zechariah began competing in various 5k events around the community. In October of 2017, Zechariah ran in the Tunnel to Towers 5k in Orlando, FL. This run proved to be a turning point for Zechariah and the spark that created Running 4 Heroes.

During this run, Zechariah had the opportunity to run with dozens of First Responders, many of whom ran the race in their full gear. From that point forward, Zechariah knew he wanted to keep running with and for our First Responders. Originally, his mission set out to honor a fallen 9/11 Police Officer named Walwyn Stuart, while raising money for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Zechariah spent all of 2018 honoring this fallen hero in his various races and ended up raising over $11,000 for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

It was at the end of 2018 when he heard about how many Police Officers lost their lives in the line of duty that year. Knowing that the number of miles he ran in 2018 was nearly the same amount of miles as Officers lost in 2018, Zechariah set out on a mission to run 1-mile in 2019 for every Officer lost in the line of duty from the prior year and to raise $100 for each Officer for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

However, just 2-weeks into 2019, Zechariah heard how more Officers had already lost their lives in the lines of duty in the current year, so he decided to add an additional mile for every Officer lost in 2019, but for them, he would run those miles carrying the Blue Line Flag in their honor.

On December 30th, 2024, Zechariah ran his last mile for the mission after conducting a total of 1,574 miles in honor of our fallen. On January 1st, 2025, Zechariah joined the Board of Directors.

His decision to honor our fallen heroes has led to the creation of the Running 4 Heroes 501(c)(3), which sets out to honor every First Responder lost in the line of duty as well as support those injured First Responders whose injuries were duty-related.

Tiffany McCartney lived in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where she was a volunteer fire police officer for the Fountain Hill Fire Department for 12 1/2 years, following in her dad's footsteps. She enjoyed volunteering in her community, protecting the first responders & the public from hazards. She was also a board member for the department's relief association for quite a few years before leaving Pennsylvania and moving to Jacksonville, Florida. She always had a great relationship with all the First Responders she has met and worked with.

In 2020 Tiffany learned about the Running 4 Heroes mission. She saw an Injured First Responder receive a grant in Atlantic Beach, Florida, and Zechariah, also ran for JSO, Lieutenant Christopher Cunningham. In 2022, she became a part of the Injured First Responder Grant Committee. She assisted in the vetting of applications of injured first responders. Once a month, while Chad & Zechariah were out of the area to present Injured Responder Grants, she would also spend time at the tribute hall in case someone came to view the hall. Since then, she has assisted in Running 4 Heroes events, helping set up and volunteering to help with anything the mission needed.

In 2024, Tiffany started assisting with the Running 4 Heroes K9 page. She currently posts content and also sets up our fallen K9 runs. She helped with the setup of a Jacksonville run in December of 2024 that Zachariah ran for 2 fallen heroes, JSO Corrections Officer Bradford McNew and JFRD Engineer Heath O'Shea who both had fallen in the line of duty in 2024.
She looks forward to working with the mission to continue forward with honoring our First Responders and K9s.