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A Run to Remember Participants once again come out for CPMF’s annual 5K event
Lodge 7 Third Vice President Fernando Flores participated in the run to support families of fall- en and injured officers.
Retired officer Cedric Brumley, who served in the 4th District and became paralyzed after a near-fatal car accident in 2002, was also present at the run.
were finished within an hour and a half. “Some take it as a Run to Remember,” Schuda said. “Some take it as a Walk to Re- member, some take it as a Stroll to Remem-
ber.”
The event did not forget about children,
who were able to participate in a Junior Jog with the option to run a 25-, 50- or 100-yard dash.
“We sold out at 350 kids,” Schuda said. “We wanted to get the kids involved and let them be a part of it without them having to actually be out on the big course.”
n ROSEMARY AN
The Chicago Police Memorial Founda- tion’s annual Run to Remember came back live but with a new twist born out of a pan- demic innovation. Runners had the chance to participate virtually as well as in the flesh at Gold Star Families Memorial and Park on Aug. 22.
“About 90 percent were in person,” said Bridget Schuda, the CPMF development and communications officer. “The virtual option was so that people could get their packets in the mail and still get to support and run.”
The run went virtual in 2020 due to COVID, helping the CPMF realize that there are people who don’t live in the Chi- cago area but want to participate and sup- port the cause as well.
“We even had a couple in Ireland who joined us,” Schuda said. “It was nuts. It gave us a new light.”
So when the CPMF went back to the drawing board for the 17th annual run in 2021, they decided to keep the virtual op- tion.
“It was very cool to see people from afar still wanting to join us that morning,” Schuda said. “There’s a lot of retirees in Florida, Arizona and general places who want to support. It was great.”
The 5K run being held in August instead of May could have resulted in fewer partic- ipants, with children going back to school. Still, with the two-method option, the run garnered almost 5,000 participants and raised just under $500,000 in donations that will assist families of officers who were catastrophically injured or killed on the job. That’s about $100 in donations per runner.
At 8 a.m., runners lined up to run or walk the 5K. The fastest runner completed the race in 18 minutes, but all participants
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Each runner who crossed the finish line saw a photo of fallen officer Ella French, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Aug. 7.
After the run, participants and families enjoyed live music, an ice cream truck and food trucks with hot dogs and tacos, thanks to the eight vendors who wanted to sup- port the event.
“Nothing like a good old hot dog and ta- cos at 9:30 in the morning,” Schuda joked. “You should have seen the line for the ta- cos.”
Schuda took a moment to appreciate how many people came out to back the blue. The event was a success, to say the least.
“This is why we do what we do,” Schuda said. “We’re honored to be able to provide the necessary support both financially and emotionally, not just today or tomorrow, but 10, 20 years down the road. We will be able to support them because people come out to support us.”