Father to Run 48 Miles for Kentucky Child Care Safety

Kentucky parents choosing child care can use the Ryker's Requests checklist to verify providers before enrolling their children.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Child Care

Father to Run 48 Miles for Kentucky Child Care Safety

Tyler Smith is running a 48-hour endurance challenge on November 6, covering 12 four-mile legs, to honor his son Ryker and raise awareness of child care safety in Kentucky. The effort is tied to Ryker's Requests, a state child care resource that helps Kentucky parents know what questions to ask providers.

Why it matters

Ryker died at three months old in 2022 after being sent to daycare, and Smith's family had no structured guide for choosing child care. Ryker's Requests was built to close that gap, giving Kentucky families a checklist before they enroll a child, which matters for any household making a child care decision.

Smith will run four miles every four hours across 48 hours, completing 12 legs for a total of 48 miles on November 6. Ryker was three months old when he died in 2022, after being sent to daycare on July 27 of that year.

The players

Tyler Smith

Kentucky father running a 48-hour endurance challenge to honor his son Ryker and advance child care safety awareness.

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services

The Kentucky state agency that oversees child care oversight tools and promotes the Ryker's Requests safety resource for parents.

The details

Smith is covering the distance by running four miles every four hours, a schedule that spreads the 48 miles across two full days. Ryker's Requests was created so parents can evaluate a provider before enrolling a child. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services' page explains how to check a provider's status, capacity, and inspection history through Kynect. Parents can use that information to compare providers before they commit.

July 27, 2022: Ryker was sent to daycare and did not come home.
2022: Ryker died at three months old.
November 6, 2026: Smith's 48-hour endurance challenge takes place.

The Home Front

Ryker's Requests sits within Kentucky's state-run child care oversight, which lets parents look up a provider's status, capacity, and inspection history through Kynect. The initiative is a family-level counterpart to those public records, turning them into a set of questions parents can ask before enrolling a child.

If you are choosing a child care provider, check the provider's status, capacity, and inspection history through Kynect before you enroll your child. Ask the questions listed on Ryker's Requests so you know what to compare across providers.

The takeaway

Before enrolling a child, look up the provider's status, capacity, and inspection history through Kynect and keep a list of questions from Ryker's Requests. Calendar the November 6 challenge if you want to follow how the family's awareness effort unfolds.