11th Annual Greta’s Run for Imagine
The 11th Annual Greta’s Run for Imagine will be held in Westfield, NJ on Sunday, May 19, 2024. Runners, walkers, and rollers are welcome to register for this official USATF 5K through Westfield. Proceeds raised will benefit Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss located in Mountainside and Newark, NJ.
Participants arrive for check-in at 8:00 a.m. and a welcome address from Imagine’s Executive Director, Lindsay Schambach, will kick off at 8:40 a.m.The 5K will start at 9:00 a.m. followed by a 200-yard Kids Fun Run dash at 9:45 a.m. for children 10-years-old and younger. The Memory Walk will start at 10:15 a.m. and the event will conclude with a dove release at 10:45 a.m. and a free concert by Southpaw until 11:30 a.m. Both the 5K and Memory Walk route will be lined with memory signs, available for purchase to anyone who wants to memorialize a special person who has died.
New events this year include the dove release at 10:45 a.m. followed by a free concert by Southpaw, who was named Country Group of the Year at the 2023 Josie Music Awards in Nashville, where the band also won Modern Country Song of the Year. The lead singer, Christine Radlmann, won Female Country Vocalist of the Year in 2022.
Greta’s Run began 11 years ago when a group of Greta Schoenemann’s friends decided to honor her memory with a 5k community race. Greta had died on September 15, 2002, due to injuries sustained when a branch fell on a group of students as they were eating lunch outside of Westfield High School.
Sadly, many of us have experienced the loss of someone we love, and this year’s event is in honor of all of them. We invite everyone to join us as we run, walk or roll in honor of Greta and all those we love who have died. At Imagine, we see this run as an act of honor, as an act of mourning and of remembrance for our families and our community.
Proceeds from the race support Imagine’s free peer support groups for children, families and young adults coping with grief. Additionally, Imagine staff are available to provide support in the immediate aftermath of a loss in a school community, organization, or place of business. Imagine also offers grief education programs which are available for schools and businesses looking to better support their communities.
Sponsorships help underwrite the event and help ensure that every dollar goes directly to providing free grief support for children and families. To become a sponsor for future Imagine events, please contact Angela Marie Tayco at angela@imaginenj.org or 908-228-3360.
To register for Greta’s Run for Imagine, please visit imaginenj.org/gretasrun.Registrations are live – early bird special rates are available until May 10, 2024, then standard rates will apply. Day-of registrations will also be available. We look forward to coming together as a community to honor and remember those we love who have died.
Imagine is a 501c3 that offers grief and loss education and training to the community and free year-round grief support groups for children ages 3-18and young adults 19-30 who are coping with a loss due to death.Concurrently, support groups are available for the parents and guardians of the children in the groups and offered in English and Spanish. For more information please contact Imagine at 908-264-3100 or info@imaginenj.org or visit our website at imaginenj.org.
