Yesterday I ran the Butterfly Fund 5K.
When I run a 5K, I am always happy to know that my entry fee is going to a good cause, though I rarely notice exactly what the cause is. When you run a lot of races, the charities become interchangeable abstract concepts; lung cancer, brain cancer, autism, etc.
But this cause had an odd dose of reality to it.
The 5K benefits Nancy's Butterfly Fund, which benefits victims of domestic violence.
Nancy refers to Nancy Cooper, who was murdered by her husband, Brad Cooper, 2 years ago. You might remember it, because the media covered intensely.
It happened right here in Cary, NC where I live, but at the time it didn't phase me at all. Until I happened to stumble upon Brad Cooper's Athlinks profile. It really creeped me out. If you have never heard of it, Athlinks is a site trying (and failing) to be a Facebook for runners and triathletes.
Nancy was a runner, as you can see here. She had just done a 5K before she was murdered.
I don't know why, but the existence of race results suddenly makes these real people. The Athlinks page lists her age as 36, which is how old she would be if she was still alive. Kind of sad.
Anyway, it was a good turn out. There were kids doing karate and news trucks and a bubble machine.
The race was on exactly the same course as Denny's Challenge 5K last week, but it was a "fun run" meaning no bib numbers or official results.
My time was 21 seconds slower, which leads me to conclude that bib numbers make people run faster.
It's an aerodynamic certainty!
ReplyDeleteDepends on the number. Some are slow and some are fast. But Neil is on the right track!
ReplyDeleteGood conclusion. I never realized a murderer ran coach bubba too. Scary and sad.
ReplyDeleteLogging onto the two Athlink sites and then looking back at some of the reports from the local news stations brings back how incredibly tragic this story was. It really did dominate the media for quite atime until they pieced together what they needed to arrest the husband.
ReplyDeleteTheir race histories are like a strange snapshot of two lives ended.
Let's remember that Brad Cooper has not been convicted. Don't hastily jump to conclusions.
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