Tom Widenhofer has made a lot of friends in his 19 years.

And Sunday a team made up of the friends of the Butler man and brain cancer patient ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon to raise money for St. Jude Research Hospital because of the care it has provided him.

The team of Slippery Rock students, faculty and family of Widenhofer raised $5,895, said Barb Billek-Sawhney, an associate professor in SRU's School of Physical Therapy and one of the marathon runners.

“The Widenhofers and our family have been friends since Tom and my son, Isiah, entered Montessori when they were both 3. Because of this, we have a strong connection,” said Billek-Sawhney.

Widenhofer was forced to withdraw from SRU last fall just three weeks into the semester after his glioblastoma brain tumor returned after a five-year remission. He was first diagnosed with the cancer when he was 14.

He returned to St. Jude in Memphis, Tenn., for treatment but has since returned to Butler.

“I've been so proud of him for what he's done in research,” said his father, Walter Widenhofer. He said his son volunteered for four clinical trials while at St. Jude to try and advance the research.

“He's a fighter. He lost the ability to drive and he let that roll off him. He lost the ability to control his left side and he let that roll off him,” his father said.

Walter Widenhofer said Tom was in a wheelchair Sunday to cheer on members of “Team Windenhofer” as they crossed the finish line, especially his younger brother, Tyler, 16, a Butler High School track and cross country team member who was running in a relay team in the marathon

Tyler said he'd been putting in extra training for running the last leg of the marathon, a distance of 4.6 miles.

“I actually was running every other weekend for this because I'm a short-distance runner,” he said.

Billek-Sawhney said she had to enter the marathon in support of St. Jude.

“I've not run for five years but I had to do this, I was so upset,” she said.

Besides Billek-Sawhney and Tyler Widenhofer, the other members of the team were: SRU physical therapy students Mary Gorham from Mill Hall, Beth Ann Witt from Erie, Aubree Erlandson from Murrysville, Courtney Dalrymple from Pittsfield, Gabrielle Fagan from Youngstown, Ohio, and Stephanie Zaucha from Indiana, Pa. Others joining SRU's St. Jude's Hero team were Suzanne Cavanaugh of Pittsburgh and Gabriel Sawhney, Rajiv Sawhney, Victoria Sawhney, David White and Samantha Drohan, all from Butler.

Five ran in the relay, four ran the marathon and five raced in the half-marathon.

“Everyone finished,” said Billek-Sawhney. “We ran as a team and we ran for a reason.”

“They are a top fundraising team for the marathon,” said Whitney Fain, event marketing representative for St. Jude.

‘It is the community. I've put notices in church bulletins. I've gotten quarters in the mail. I've gotten $10 checks. It's just amazing, an outpouring of love,” said Billek-Sawhney

Fain said St. Jude is a charity affiliate of the marathon, and that there were 100 runners in the event as fundraisers for St. Jude.

“We're huge fans and supporters of St. Jude,” said Walter Widenhofer, crediting the hospital with saving his son's life. “He had his first surgery at 14. He was in remission.”

“But with this type of cancer, they don't call it remission, they call it watchful waiting. I give a lot of credit to St. Jude for the time we had with him, said Walter Widenhofer.

But more than the fundraising efforts of Team Widenhofer, Walter Widenhofer appreciates their support. Billek-Sawhney and her colleagues at SRU helped him realize, he said, “we're not alone going through this.”