This past Thursday night I traveled to the hamlet of Contoocook and Hopkinton High School to take part in Anna’s Run. The evening was about Anna O’Reilly, former student and cross country runner at the school. Anna was an integral part of the Hopkinton and Keene State running communities. The evening was a remembrance of her tragic passing this past July. I was there to share my respects and support the Hopkinton running community.
I arrived just around 4:30pm, an hour before the race was to start, and the place was packed. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. Certainly the circumstances for the event are rugged, as one would expect with the loss of someone so young. But it became very apparent the evening was about celebrating the life of Anna, along with the people she touched and the connections she made throughout the running community.
I had been corresponding with George Sabol. He and I friends from back when our daughters ran for the same Granite State Flash squad. He wanted to let me know the circumstances along with wanting help to get out the word about the upcoming events like Anna’s Run. Initially expecting around 100 people, once word got out the entries jumped to 250 with a week to go, then blew by the 300 mark the next day. Results indicate 414 finishers and I can tell you it certainly felt like a crowd.
And a celebration it was. Not only were there members of the past and current Hopkinton squads, there was a big contingent of Keene State team members, blending the squads Anna ran for over the past seven years. In addition to those, I noticed squads from Monadnock and Newfound as well, with also a bit of a who’s who in high school running showing up as individuals, with Fall Mountain’s Elijah Bodanza taking top honors. Hopkinton also had their girls field hockey team there in force, along with a field hockey crew from SNHU and members of the UML cross team as well.
And then there was the greater Hopkinton running community as well. Young, old, fast, slow, you name it and you saw how much a diverse group of individuals can come together under difficult circumstances and show each other compassion and support in times of grief. While I didn’t know Anna personally, I am very aware of the community she is being celebrated by, having a long running rivalry with Hopkinton on the cross country course, our teams often looking for that top spot.
Before the race, a number of people came forward to offer words of encouragement and remembrance. Rob Rothe, Anna’s coach for her four years running for Hopkinton, spoke up about how supportive and uplifting Anna was, the consummate teammate. He alluded to the Hopkinton running community as a family, which was very evident from the tremendous crowd and amazing participation. He let on that with as tragic the reason for the evening was, that the outpouring of support, camaraderie, and mutual love and respect was uplifting and hopeful going forward. I, for one, would have to agree.
In the emails back and forth, I requested George get me a green Hopkinton shirt I could wear for the race. In the old days, I could never have donned the green of Hopkinton, however considering the closeness forged over years of competing, it seemed fitting.
Once the starting gun sounded I found myself being tossed like a green bobber in a sea of purple. The course, adapted from Anna’s last run, rose up Kearsarge Road right along with my heartrate before turning onto the rail trail bringing us back towards the school. As the discomfort of running “uptempo” started to manifest beyond the halfway point, I was buoyed by the compassion and support so evident in this running community. We had all ages and all abilities on display, witnessed by the 66 year old that finished 5 spots in front of me and the 82 year old right in back of me.
I’m going to be honest here. The evening brought me a lot of mixed emotions. Five years before I had one of my own athletes pass, very out of the blue for me. I never saw it coming and was quite taken aback. Upon hearing the unfortunate news I went out on a run, not exactly sure what it was going to lead to. This athlete made the SCs his senior year in the 3200, a low seed but ready to take that step. In that race he finished 6th, after trailing the entire field at 400, running an impressive negative split. On that run I decided I was going to run as hard as I could, for 10 minutes, 26 seconds, his finishing time in that race as a dedication to him.
I had no idea what this evening was going to mean to me. I was more than ten years removed from him being on my roster. I can’t imagine the emotions going through the people that were closest to Anna. All I knew is this was important to me and to them, so there was no way I wasn’t going to participate, in some ways to help with feeling I still held onto from my previous athlete. But also in the importance of dealing with depression right now, in the present. While I have no idea exactly what to do, there are people to help, like Connor’s Climb. There are people who know how to help and want to provide the intervention the rest of us might not understand how to provide.
In the end, the evening wasn’t about finishing time or what place you came in. It was being connected with the people there that night and the people in your life. Make sure to check in with those important in your life and see that they are OK and feel supported. Engage in those conversations that are important and meaningful. And simply make sure to be there.
As things were winding down and people were slowly leaving the groups of people they knew and were hanging with, I sought out George to see if he wanted his sweaty green Hopkinton Track and Field shirt back and he assured me he knew where he could find another one. So I told him I’d wear it during the spring season while I commentate various track races. And I’ll do so with hope and remembrance.
I’ll see you out there.
A huge thanks to everyone who played a role and made this happen in such a short time period. As stated, the race entries were over 400. All proceeds, and that’s in excess of $10,000 will go to Connors Climb, who’s mission is to provide suicide prevention education by raising awareness, reducing stigma, and equipping youth, educators, and the community at large with tools and resources focused on the vulnerable age group of 10-24 year-olds, to New Hampshire and bordering communities.”
An extra big thanks to Delta Dental for being the Presenting sponsor and including it in the Delta Dental Concord Area race series. Delta Dental wants to make sure this race continues into the future by including it in the race series for 2026.
