This Family Is Running in 50 States in 50 Days for Smile Train

Everybody wants to fully live their beliefs; only a few actually can. Then there’s Jeremy Hough.

“One of the things that really drives me is going out and doing hard things for a good cause,” he said. “I’m comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

These are not mere words. He lives them every day. They’ve motivated him through a 26+-year career as an Air Force pilot, including multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And when his older daughter, Campbell, was born with a cleft 17 years ago, he and his wife, Kelly, took all the discomfort and fear they felt for her future and channeled it into action, quickly securing the best possible care for her — not only the surgeries, but also the nutritional support, orthodontics, and everything else she needed.

But that wasn’t, couldn’t be, enough. Her journey made the struggles of countless other babies just like her who don’t have access to the care they need to nurse, breathe, speak, or smile unignorable. Unthinkable. And when the Houghs confront an issue others would rather not think about, they make a point to think about it a lot. Then they hustle to make it better.

After researching cleft charities, the choice was clear: They would give their all to support Smile Train, the only major cleft organization with a sustainable, local model that ensures cleft care that’s always there for children in need.

In 2013, Jeremy was training for IRONMAN Lake Placid when he decided to use the event as a fundraiser for Smile Train. It was a big success, and it pushed him to think even bigger. There were so many other races out there, and so many people who might push themselves to run in one if only they could find the right motivation. He saw it all the time in the Air Force — people were most inspired to empower themselves when it came with an opportunity to empower others, too. He reached out to Smile Train.

And thus Team EMPOWER, Smile Train’s endurance athletic squad, was born.

As Smile Train has grown over the years, the Hough family has grown along with us, staying involved every step and mile marker along the way.

In late 2023, Jeremy and Campbell went on Journey of Smiles Trek — an opportunity to meet Smile Train patients and partners in Colombia while also completing a four-day hike through the jungle.

It was the dad-daughter experience they didn’t know they had always wanted. As they scaled stony cliffs and explored the ruins of the legendary Ciudad Perdida, the Houghs found themselves talking about ways they could, as Jeremy says, “do something really hard next year.” By the end of the trek, they had hatched an idea worthy of their epic surroundings: What if we all ran a 5k in all 50 states over the course of 50 days?

Campbell was then 16. She would begin her senior year the following fall; Jeremy was likewise planning to retire from the Air Force that winter. Timing met motivation met opportunity. They couldn’t not do this.

“I kept asking Campbell, ‘Are you sure you want to miss half of your senior year of high school?’” Kelly told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “And she said to me, ‘Mom, I’m not missing anything. I want to be here for these kids, it’s important to me.’”

Out of Many Races, One Family

Once back in the States, Jeremy got right to work, spending the next six months hunched over the family computer researching routes, booking races, securing campgrounds.

On September 11, Jeremy, Kelly, Campbell, younger sister Caroline, and dogs Kona and Zulu landed in Anchorage, AK, and kicked off the marathon of a lifetime: Run 50 Strong: 50 States in 50 Days.

As of early October, it’s clear that Jeremy’s meticulous planning has paid off. Everything is going according to plan for them to arrive in Hawaii to run their final race on October 31.

But as in any experience, it’s the moments that can’t be planned that change your life the most. You think you know your family until you are living in a small camper, running races, setting up campsites, going to school online, and doing interviews with local media (and Smile Train) every day together for weeks on end. It teaches you about yourselves.

For Kelly, the lesson has been that you can’t plan enough. Even after marveling at all of Jeremy’s preparations, she’s come to realize that “I underestimated how much planning this is. There are so many moving parts.”

Campbell, who, along with Caroline, is responsible for setting up and taking down the campsite each day, agrees. “I’ve learned to pay attention to details, but also how we can work together really well.”

And Jeremy, driving for hours on end, juggling so many of the logistics, pushing his body each day, has never been happier.

“Believe it or not, the stress of this trip is a lot less than the stress of my day-to-day at work. No one’s life is on the line here,” he laughed from somewhere outside St. Louis, before adding, “It’s been awesome to see Campbell and Caroline step up and take on responsibilities. And it's been really cool to see everybody come together for something that's greater than each individual, everyone working towards our ultimate goal.”

The Race for Attention

Amid the sprint of freeways and 5Ks, the family has been chased by media almost everywhere they’ve been, from Tonganoxie (KS) to Biloxi (MS). While most people wouldn’t want a camera or a journalist in their face on either end of a race, the Houghs understand the attention isn’t another part of the endurance test; inspiring people with Campbell’s story and smile is the why fueling the entire adventure.

“It's been kind of surreal,” Campbell reflects. “I was nervous for the first one, but it went really well. After that, it just built my confidence, and now it's another thing that I learned, how to be interviewed. So that's kind of fun. And I don't mind the pictures being on the media and all that stuff, I really enjoy it because I know it means that our message is getting out to more people.”

The Houghs Need You

The family still has miles to go. For all the attention they’ve gotten, they are behind on their fundraising.

After 17 years of sweating it out on behalf of the cleft community, the Houghs are in an unusual position: Asking others for help. Most of us can’t do what they do, but if you, too, would do anything to stop a child from suffering or dying from a completely treatable birth difference, this is your chance to step up and be a hero by pitching in to their campaign now.

This campaign isn’t just a fun run; it matters. When people across the country see Campbell’s smiling face on TV and in the newspaper and hear her story, it gives real hope and healing to so many people with clefts who have been made to feel alone and less-than. Who grew up struggling to breathe and forced to stay inside, even in the US.

The Houghs are doing everything they can, but whether they reach the finish line ultimately depends on us.