Jessi Rochel is a runner with a cause. For nearly four years, the Carbondale local and executive director of the Chris Klug Foundation (CKF) has been quietly chipping away at the elusive Six Star Medal presented by Abbott World Marathon Majors all while raising critical funds and awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation.
“Running [a marathon] for a charity is the best way to do it. It makes those miles really meaningful,” Rochel said. “When it gets tough I think about how this is something bigger than myself. It feels great to raise those funds and awareness.”
Based in the Roaring Fork Valley, CKF is a national nonprofit organization that educates individuals to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and inspire the transplant community to live their fullest lives. Popular events like Summit for Life, the uphill race in Aspen, and numerous race teams are key initiatives that amplify the nonprofit’s vision to eliminate the transplant wait. Currently, charity runners can race for Team CKF in three world marathon majors, New York City, Cape Town and Sydney.
Running the majors is a coveted event. Introduced in
2016, the Six Star Medal honors athletes who complete the original six: New York City, Boston, London, Berlin, Tokyo and Chicago. It’s a challenging endeavor few have accomplished. For perspective, each year roughly 1.1 million runners worldwide finish a marathon, including athletes who run more than one. As of 2025, there are only 23,260 Six Star Medal finishers.
While Rochel has been dab-
bling in the marathon distance since 2010, she first ran for Team CKF in the 2022 New York City Marathon. Since then, she has finished Berlin, Chicago, Sydney and most recently London. Tokyo is scheduled for 2027 and on May 24 she will run the Cape Town Marathon, which is under evaluation to become part of a new Nine Star Medal.
“It is so amazing that these majors offer the opportunity for charities,” Rochel said. “The races are a great way to connect with people to help share our message.”
She elaborated that grants are challenging to obtain. Fundraising is a way to reach new financial donors excited to support their people during big athletic pursuits. The momentous miles also connect CKF with new ambassadors who help organize educational events and support others through the donation and transplant process. Even more so, Team CKF can inspire transplant recipients and living donors to run.
“It’s a really cool way to highlight what’s possible for people who have had the experience of donation and transplantation,” Rochel said. “Maybe they’re a transplant recipient or living donor and now they get to show people they can run a marathon … It highlights how important donation and transplantation is and gives these people a great way to celebrate what they’ve been through.”
The Ultimate Gift
For Rochel, every mile logged and dollar amount raised is a reminder of the greatest gift someone once gave to her family.
“In 2007, my dad was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy,” she said. “He came home from work complaining about chest pain, thinking it was bronchitis. My mom took him to the doctor and they immediately ground transported him to Denver because the pumping function of his heart was at 5%. A normal heart pumps at about 50 to 75%.”
While medication worked for a while, her dad ultimately needed a heart transplant. The surgery was a success and on Aug. 20, 2025 he celebrated his 10-year anniversary.
According to CKF, 93% of Americans agree with organ donation, but only 44% of individuals are registered donors. Last year, 49,064 people received an organ transplant, and yet over 103,000 adults and children in the United States are still on the transplant waitlist.
“It’s a deeply personal decision [to become a donor] that people say yes or no to for different reasons,” Rochel said. “We just hope people will educate themselves, know the facts and then make an informed decision that is appropriate for them and their family.”
Rochel said individuals can do so much while living, like donating blood at one of the Valley’s pop-up blood mobiles or registering to be a blood stem cell and bone marrow donor. She noted that donating blood stem cells and bone marrow can be the cure for someone’s blood cancer.
Sensitively creating ways to start the donation conversation, CKF offers bilingual curriculums for school-age children to learn about organs and donor superheroes. The organization also offers upcoming summer campaigns like Create for Life and Bake for Life that use art and baking respectively as mediums to gently cultivate meaningful conversation.
“It can be a tough conversation,” Rochel said. “We try to get creative to make it less daunting and scary. You can talk while you bake or create art and then share it with your [community].”
By thoughtfully approaching the conversation and sharing their own anecdotes, Rochel and the CKF team have been able to reach over 1.3 million people to date, and hope to reach even more to save lives.
“I have met and spoken with so many people that I would not have crossed paths with because of CKF,” Rochel said. “People have the most amazing stories including those connected to donation and transplantation. The more we’re out there in the public talking and giving others a platform, the more people realize their own connection and how they can help.”
Visit www.chrisklugfoundation.org to learn more about CKF and upcoming events like the communal Transplant Games in Denver. To help Jessi Rochel reach her next fundraising goal on her Six Star Medal journey visit runsignup.com/jessifortoyko2027