5th Annual Love Runs through 5K for Sandy Hook

Five years ago I gathered a group of friends and friends of friends and ran my first “virtual” race; it was for Sandy Hook. The race, for me, was more than a 5K, so I developed a race course that was longer in length, and more meaningful in my heart. I mapped a course that would take us passed six of the nine elementary schools in my town. The other three just added too much mileage for my legs. At each school I would touch the flagpole (almost like a check in point). When I think of Newtown I think of many things, but first and foremost I think about the flagpole in the town’s center, in the middle of the road. So, this is how I would connect my running with the town. At the last school a friend showed support by leaving a case of water by the flagpole and some encouraging words in chalk. 

That was five years ago. This year I set out to run it again, virtually. I mapped a course that was shorter than before (my running has lapsed this year); it would take me by four elementary schools and my son’s middle school. I sent a quieter word out and two friends said they would try to join me. Yesterday at 8:00 I set out to run 9+ miles solo. At first I dwelled on doing it alone; I felt I needed the company from my friends to get me through the distance. Just as I was getting into a running groove, realizing each school was less than 2.5 miles apart, I saw a pair of Mallard ducks up ahead on the sidewalk. Seeing ducks in yards in my neighborhood is not unheard of, for the past two years I have surprisingly had a duck build a nest in my yard, but it is certainly still rare! Two ducks getting ready to cross the street in front of a city bus! I ran behind them encouraging them to waddle faster…the bus driver saw me and slowed down and smiled, I waved, then crossed the street again continuing on my run. DUCKS! I have seen turtles, rabbits, deer, even cows on my runs before, but never ducks! This was all the encouragement I needed. (check out this story from February 2013: http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Ducks-Of-Sandy-Hook_Hartford.html) 

During my run I thought about kids; my kids, the kids of Sandy Hook, all the kids I have been lucky enough to cross paths with. At State Road I thought about a student I met with weekly during my school counseling internship — I ran into her just the other week, six years later, she recognized me, said hello and we caught up a bit….it made my day that she acknowledged me, as she has grown into a beautiful young lady, but I don’t think I would have recognized her otherwise.

I thought about Newtown; the flagpole, the Edmund Town Hall where you can watch discount movies at a great price, eating ice cream at Ferris Creamery with my kids this past summer, eating many meals at the Exit 10 Diner (I miss diners! There’s nothing quite like them in the Midwest), and eating bagels from Bagel Delight.

At Longfellow Middle I thought not only about my son and his friends, teachers and classmates, but of the year I spent there also doing a school counseling internship. I thought about how it is the last building in town to become a secured building following the Sandy Hook tragedy. It’s doors are locked, but it isn’t until this summer that a new entrance will be built, flowing all foot traffic through the main office, like the other schools. When Longfellow was built 70+ years ago it was also used as a bomb shelter, the entrance wall is simply too thick to reconstruct, so a new main entrance will be added on to the existing main office just to the side of the main entrance. Post “Sandy Hook” our schools’ doors began being locked, lock down drills have become a part of our children’s lives and gun laws have created more headlines in our newspapers.

At Spence Elementary I thought of all the wonderful students and staff I just spent three months with while covering a maternity leave for the school counselor. There are wonderful, passionate and caring teachers throughout our school district, but to see it day in and day out for three months how students bond with their teachers, a fourth grader who truly wishes he still had his second grade teacher, the student who gets and gives hugs daily to teachers throughout the building and throughout his day; this all made me think of the teachers and staff whose lives were taken that cold day in December 2012.

At the flagpole in front of Hintgen Elementary I thought about my school counseling internship there and how when I was there my son was just in kindergarten (now in 7th grade). I thought about how I learned the power of using a puppet to connect with children, even if you’re not a ventriloquist. Kids at Head Start who I work with today and use a puppet with, may not always remember me or my name, but they remember my puppet and what “he” said. 

My knee began to ache so I took a walking break as I continued to Southern Bluffs, my kids’ elementary school and where I regularly sub. I eventually ran some more before walking the remaining 3+ miles. This virtual run of mine wasn’t so much about running as it was the cause and the kids. Southern Bluffs is on the edge of town and my course took me on a busy road and passed Wal-Mart where a man was standing at the entrance near the traffic light with a cardboard sign that said he was down on his luck and has two daughters. I was prepared to give him a smile and say hello as I ran past. He saw me coming and what he did next surprised me and made me smile. He pressed the walk button. It was such a simple gesture; such a polite, kind and thoughtful gesture……he saw what I needed, a walk sign so I didn’t have to stop running. As I ran by I said thank you and told him that I hoped that today was the day it all changed for him. Had I felt like I had more time or had I not been so focused on what I was doing, maybe I would have thought to ask him what he needed at this moment our lives were crossing. 

As I touched the flagpole at Southern Bluffs, there was no bottled water or notes on the ground or people around. I thought about how in the end all you have is yourself and how I enjoyed my solo run; I cheered myself on, I had deep thoughts in my mind, and thought about how five years ago my daughter was in kindergarten. I remembered picking her and her brother (then in third grade) up from school, all while my heart was breaking for those parents so near to my hometowns of Brookfield and Danbury, CT. My heart thanks them for turning this tragedy into a motto of “Love Runs Through” — kindness should be spread throughout all of our every days. 

Love Runs Through, and yesterday it ran through me as I ran through town.