Running with Purpose

Maci Myers ’26 and Charlotte Callahan ’26 arrived at the Jim Hickey Track before sunrise, the blue pre-dawn light just touching the trees around them. At five in the morning, the campus was still, and then, breaking the stillness, they began to run. The air brightened as they moved along the hard turf. One mile at a time, with the help of more than 30 other Collegiate runners, they were jogging towards the goal of 100 miles by sundown.  

Their intention for running was greater than simply reaching a lofty mile marker, though. The event, organized by Maci and Charlotte, two runners on the JV cross country team, was meant to encourage the Collegiate community to run a 100-mile relay to provide 100 running shoes for people in the Richmond area. Alone, 100 miles in one day is unimaginable; with school-wide support, everyone running what they can, the unimaginable becomes attainable.

“I feel like this event really embodies what our community is all about,” Charlotte says. “Often, you can’t build something incredible on your own. You need help, and so having all these people come out and run with us and participate in this relay shows how much everyone cares and supports one another.” 

The rules of the relay dictate that one person must be running on the track at all times. After one mile is completed, another runner may step up to continue the race. Beside the track, a pile of lightly used running shoes accumulated throughout the race, which were then donated to Shood, a non-profit Maci and Charlotte discovered that collects men’s and women’s used athletic shoes and distributes them to those who are homeless or living in poverty in Richmond. The relay is a combined effort of the community. It promotes the idea of putting out your best effort and giving it to the next person. All of us, together, make each other better. 

“The race helps a lot of people and makes the world a better place,” says Riggs Riva ’30, a 5th Grader that ran a mile during Rives Fleming’s math class. “And doing good for others works like a chain reaction, because giving back to even just one person helps other people. I also don’t think many people realize how essential shoes are, and so raising awareness for that makes me feel good.” 

Mr. Fleming, the head coach of the JV cross country team, gives all the credit of putting on the event to his runners. They communicated with the School to pick an appropriate time for the event, they collaborated with Shood and they spread the word to the community. The process of  organizing a large-scale fundraiser gave them valuable insight into how systems work. “To organize something that supports the Richmond community, and to have the encouragement of Collegiate, is really cool,” Charlotte says. “I feel really grateful to be able to do something like this as a student.” 

After 12 hours 29 minutes, the sky now a boiling orange as the sun fell, the final mile was completed. The 100 miles are a gift, then, donated humbly, that keeps on giving, not just for the recipient but for the runners as well. “Collegiate has always instilled in us what it means not only to be part of the School community but what it means to be part of a larger community,” says Macy Boyer ’26, another member of the JV cross country team that participated in the 100-mile relay. “Running this relay is kind of representative of our community in that way: you run so that you can help someone else. So as we’ve been running today I think we’ve all felt and been reminded of the importance of giving back to someone else.”