Last week there was an article about a woman in a suburb of Boston who was attacked while on an early morning run along the course of the Boston Marathon. That article hit close to home because I am a runner in Boston who usually runs in the early morning hours. Fortunately this woman was able to get away.
Two thousand miles away, another runner, another woman, was attacked and sadly had a different outcome. This woman’s name was Sherry Arnold. Sherry was a 43-year old mother and math teacher and by all accounts, was a wonderful and loving person.
Sherry’s cousin Beth writes one of my favorite blogs, Shut Up & Run. Her posts are funny, inspiring, and very down to earth. Beth has been giving the running community continuous updates on the ongoing investigation into Sherry’s disappearance and in turn has received an outpouring of support on her blog.
After the arrest of two men — one of whom confessed to Sherry’s murder — Beth decided to organize a “virtual run” in Sherry’s honor to be held on February 11th at 9:00am MST. As is typical of the tight-knit running community, the news has spread like wildfire, and people all over the country — the world, even — are planning to run in Sherry’s honor. I am planning to run in Boston at 11:00am EST. If there are any local runners who would like to join us, please send me a message at happilyeveralone@gmail.com. We’d love to have you along. For more information about Sherry and the virtual run (and to print out a bib) click here.
Though it is a deeply sad event that will bring runners together on February 11th, it’s a testament to the solidarity of the running community to rally around one of our own who has been lost.
happilyeveralone 