As every new year comes to Chattanooga, there is Karen Lawrence – not in person but very much in thought.
She died from acute lymphocytic leukemia in March 1980, about six weeks before her 12th birthday, but the annual New Year’s Eve race named for her has reached the age of 37. And befitting the day on which the Karen Lawrence Run is held, it’s a time for looking back but even more for looking ahead to hopes and possibilities.
The timed four-mile race will start at 7:15 p.m. Thursday from the Sports Barn downtown, and a two-mile fun run and walk will begin soon after. Entry for either costs $35 and can be handled through Active.com or Itsyourrace.com in advance or at the race site starting at 4 p.m. that day.
After 35 years of benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – and raising about $750,000 through the race itself and “close to 3 million” with private donations added in, according to Mike Lawrence, Karen’s older brother – the run is in its second year with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga as the sole beneficiary.
“All the money stays here in Chattanooga. Last year we raised enough (about $28,000) to cover the entire Ronald McDonald House overhead for a month,” Mike Lawrence said. “That’s pretty good.”
Jane Kaylor, the president and CEO of RMH Charities of Greater Chattanooga, became a Lawrence family friend when her daughter was a St. Jude patient at the same time as Karen in the late 1970s, and the Lawrences’ mother, Phyllis, has been involved with the Ronald McDonald House as a volunteer since it opened.
Karen herself had the idea of the race and was the official starter, along with then Chattanooga Mayor Pat Rose, for the first one. The Sports Barn had opened earlier that year, 1979, and has hosted the event throughout its history.
“They have been a real good sponsor,” Mike Lawrence said. “Anyone participating can use the facilities – take showers or whatever – and then still go out for New Year’s Eve.”
The race offers everyone a chance to finish the year with a physical activity that helps a very good cause and still celebrate in other ways, he pointed out.
Last year’s overall winners were Seth Ruhling and Shanna Hutchinson.