Remembrance Scholars host 5K race to benefit victims of Boston Marathon bombings
Alec Hembree, a fourth-year student in the architecture program, finishes first among male runners in the 5K race on campus organized by the 2013 Remembrance Scholars to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon attacks. Hembree finished the race with a time of 19:05. Chase Gaewski | Photo Editor
In past years, Alexandra Doney was only a spectator at the Boston Marathon. But this year, she took first place in a race honoring victims of the Boston bombings on April 15.
“I’ve been going to the Boston Marathon ever since I was a little girl, and I didn’t go this year because of classes,” said Doney, a freshman English and textual studies, political science and citizenship and civic engagement major. “I usually stand where the bomb first went off, so it really hit home.”
Doney was one of hundreds of people who took to the roads of Syracuse University for a 5,000-meter run and walk on Sunday to raise money for the victims of the marathon bombings. The race, which started and finished at the Schine Student Center, consisted of a three-loop course around the campus.
The race was organized by the Remembrance Scholars, a group of SU seniors who represent the 35 students killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.
The funds raised through race registration will benefit a New England organization called Technology Underwriting Greater Good. Organization members started their own fundraiser after the tragedy, and will donate money to The One Fund Boston, the Boston Red Cross and the Boston Children’s Hospital, said Stephanie Kranz, the lead organizer of the event.
“We came up with the idea right after the tragedy occurred,” said Kranz, a Remembrance Scholar. “Then, I got the Remembrance Scholars and some students together and we just started planning the event, and it was all good news after that. The weather was great, we secured donations and it just took off.”
The turnout was far greater than expected. Kranz said she bought 150 T-shirts for the participants, but ran out well before registration closed. Aside from mascot Otto’s air horn malfunctioning at the start of the race, the event went off without any problems.
Alec Hembree, a fourth-year student in the architecture program, was the first male finisher, coming in at 19:05. Doney was the first female runner to cut the tape, finishing at 22:40.
Hembree was separated by less than a second from fellow runner Aidan Cunniffe for the majority of the race, but pulled ahead late to win by seven seconds.
“Up by Hendricks Chapel, down Crouse Hill, I just turned on really hard and just sprinted down hill,” Hembree said. “Then, at the corner, I turned it on again to see if I could keep that distance up. I didn’t know what his sprint speed at the end would be.”
Unlike Hembree, Doney won without any close competition. The second-place finisher came in more than a minute later. But even with a decisive finish, Doney said she didn’t enter the event with the expectation of winning.
“I haven’t raced in a year and a half. It just felt right,” Doney said. “I’m used to running with guys. I guess my competitive edge won out.”
At the end of the race, several participants said the day was more of a way for runners to give back in a way they enjoy.
Dan Powell, the fourth-place finisher and graduate student, said he didn’t have any personal connection to the Boston Marathon, but comes from a family of runners.
Said Powell: “As a runner, I empathize with the need to keep running a safe and fun event for everyone.”
