At 22, Kyle Rust was in heart failure and didn’t know it. A doctor heard a murmur during a routine physical and broke protocol to order an echocardiogram that same day. That decision saved his life. He had open-heart surgery, and he came back with a mission.
On November 21-25, 2026, Rust, now 27 and a Fort Thomas resident, will run The Heart of Kentucky: 211 miles from the Tennessee border to Fort Thomas, with his two dogs, to raise awareness and funds for youth heart health. His public fundraising goal is $10,000. Those funds going directly to funding Youth Heart Health initiatives, and life saving measures.
The run starts around 6:00 AM on Nov 21 at the Tennessee border in Strunk, KY. Daily stops include Eubank, Nicholasville, Lexington, Cynthiana, and Butler before the finish in Fort Thomas. Anyone can join him for a few miles anywhere along the route. There is no sign-up; followers track his location through his social media posts.
The run ends with a community heart health fair at Tower Park in Fort Thomas on Wednesday, November 25, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. The fair is open to the public and will include the American Heart Association, CPR training and education, and heart screening education
Rust’s mission is simple: make heart care proactive instead of reaction-based, so no parent loses a child to something a screening could have caught.
Kyle Rust is the founder of Heart & Hound, a cardiac-awareness advocacy brand built around his open-heart-surgery survivor story. Instagram: @heart__and__hound. Contact: 859-250-5752, heartandhound.site@gmail.com.
