Amy Nugent is on a mission in honor of her mother, Jill, who passed away after battling pancreatic cancer in 2020. This mission has taken her from being an avid runner to an organizer of a grassroots marathon, half marathon and 10K in Dundas, Minnesota.
Starting off as a consolation for runners whose big events were canceled during COVID, the Mill Towns races may have started out of necessity, but has quickly grown into a staple of its community through the passion and dedication of Amy as well as her amazing team.
“I could never pull it off by myself,” Amy was quick to mention. “There’s a committee of six of us who work together to pull it off.”
The small but mighty committee has grown this event from the ground up to include 176 registrants in 2024 along with an additional distance, sponsorships, and much more. And it’s all in support of Project Purple’s mission of funding critical pancreatic cancer research and providing patient financial aid to individuals and families facing this disease.
Registration for 2025’s race on Oct. 12 in Dundas, MN is open here.
A Personal Mission
When Jill first began noticing symptoms, she sought medical attention, but it was initially dismissed as prediabetes. She was instructed to return for a checkup in 6 months.
“It was excruciating,” Nugent said. “My mom, she knew something was wrong. The November before she was diagnosed, she went into her GP and said, ‘something’s not right.’ And they kind of blew her off.”
But she knew she couldn’t wait. Something was wrong. She continued to seek an answer and was eventually sent for an endoscopy. That endoscopy discovered pancreatic cancer.
The scan revealed that the cancer was located on the head of her pancreas and that it would be operable. Unfortunately, she faced a six-week wait time for a consultation at Mayo Clinic. By then, it had spread and surgery was no longer an option.
“By the time we got into Mayo and they did all their tests, the doctor said, ‘There’s nothing we can do for you.’ Chemo was her only option.” Nugent said. “So that was a really, really hard drive home. We were both crying, and she was telling me what she wanted at her funeral.”
After being diagnosed in July of 2018, Jill passed away in June of 2020.
Jill had been a driving force in her community, having won the Humanitarian of the Year Award and the Bridge Builder Award in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. The latter of the two awards was presented posthumously in November 2024 and Amy accepted it on her behalf.
Among the many ways in which Jill served her community, she was on the school board for 40 years and managed the historic church Amy’s great-great-grandparents founded in 1857. Now, Amy carries the torch, sharing the same passion for making a difference. She is now a trustee for the church, picking up where her mom left off.
When first met with the grief of losing her mother, Amy decided to take action against pancreatic cancer as well. At first as a runner, and eventually, as a race director.
Creating the Mill Towns Races
Amy first encountered Project Purple when she ran into a Project Purple team member at a race expo. After the encounter, she planned to run the Chicago Marathon with Project Purple in 2020.
Although the race was canceled due to COVID-19, Amy did not let that stop her from making an impact. She had friends and sponsors supporting her, and she knew people who had also missed out on races, so she and a group of friends banded together and got to planning.
Soon after, the Mill Towns Marathon and Half Marathon were founded with her running club friends there to bring the idea to life. The full marathon even had Boston Qualifier status. They thought the races would be one and done but when the Twin Cities Marathon was canceled in 2023, they scrambled and brought the races back with just three weeks’ planning. Nearly 70 runners participated.
In 2024, for its third year, it grew exponentially. With a full year to plan, the race gathered its largest turnout yet as 176 registrants signed up to participate. It had even grown to accommodate the 10k distance.
The running club also formalized its organizational status as part of the 2024 race planning, establishing an affiliation with Road Runners Club of America, gaining nonprofit status, setting official bylaws, and much more.
The race committee worked together to overcome the obstacles, each person bringing a unique set of skills, “We just naturally kind of fell into certain roles,” Nugent said.
Impact and Inspiration
The 2024 Mill Towns Races raised $10,000 for Project Purple’s mission of a world without pancreatic cancer.
It was also an inspiring moment for many members of the community as it rallied them around a powerful cause. Bill Nelson, a well-known figure in Dundas who is facing pancreatic cancer, had the opportunity to share his story with the crowd as the honorary starter at the races.
The race committee takes a lot of pride in the accessibility of the race series. While one of the main goals was to fundraise and spread awareness, inspiring people to get out and run was also a focus.
“We really positioned this race as a great place for first-timers. We had a lot of first-time marathoners, first-time half marathoners, even first-time 10K runners, and so that messaging really resonated,” Nugent said. “We heard from so many people that they loved the encouragement and the approachability of the race.”
Looking Ahead
Amy’s team is motivated to make an even bigger impact for patients fighting and towards research efforts.
“When my mom was diagnosed, the survival rate was 8%,” Nugent said.”So, I mean, the fact that we’ve increased it 5% since 2018, that’s something. But we have a long way to go.”
With registration now open for the 2025 Mill Towns races, Amy is excited to welcome even more participants to join the cause. For more information or to register, click here to visit the Mill Towns Race Series website.
Project Purple supports motivated individuals who are interested in hosting their own third-party events. If you have an event idea of your own, contact us here for more information.
