My Run for Sherry

Saturday was the Virtual Run for Sherry.

I wrote about Sherry before. She was a wife, a mother, a teacher, a friend, and a runner. She went for a run one morning and never came home. She was 43 years old. Her body still hasn't been found. Two men are in custody and I believe one has admitted to killing her. She was abducted one mile from her home in Montana, 10 minutes into her run.

On Saturday a world-wide virtual run was created to honor her memory. Bibs were available to print out, and people were encouraged to run, walk, skate, just MOVE---all in honor of Sherry. I read that over 20,000 bibs were downloaded and printed. People from all over the world ran in her memory. You can view just a sampling from this video her cousin Beth posted on her website.

I ran for Sherry on Saturday. My husband and son were in Colorado skiing, so it was just me and my daughter, A. I have never run with her before, even though I have a jogging stroller. I considered putting my bib on and heading to the gym, where I could stow A in the daycare and I could run on the treadmill. But that didn't feel right. Instead, I put A in the jogging stroller and set out to do 2 miles.

A took this picture of me on my phone. Not bad for a 5 year old!

It was hard pushing the stroller while running, and it wasn't my best run, but this wasn't about me. It was about Sherry. It was about appreciating that I could run, that I am alive, to not take it for granted. It was about running for someone who can't. I still can't fathom being killed while doing something you love. This could be me. It could be anyone.

I stopped along the way to pick up trash--since I had a basket in the bottom of the stroller, I had a place to throw the empty Gatorade and vodka bottles I found in the grass. But other than those stops, it was a quiet, pensive run. I didn't bring music with me, as I wanted to be able to hear A if she talked to me. (By the way, she LOVED "running" with me; too bad pushing the stroller was so hard that I'm unlikely to do it often). I thought about Sherry those entire two miles.

I hope that this world-wide run gave some comfort to Sherry's family. I know for me, it made me feel more a part of my fabulous running community than ever--and made me feel part of something bigger than me.