Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/759468
DECEMBER 7-13, 2016 UCW 15 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Legacies. World leaders and c apt ains of indust r y f rame decisions in ter ms of how t heir ac t ions w ill af fec t t heir legac y. Most high school st udent s base t heir decisions on how t heir ac t ions w ill af fec t t heir weekend and af ter school plans. W hen Ryan Pat- r ick K ishbaugh was in high school he probably wasn't t hink- ing about his legac y. It 's been 13 years since Ryan died, but his legac y of hope and deter minat ion cont inues to change lives. His family could have chosen to mour n him pr ivately. Instead, t hey choose to celebrate him publicly. On Dec . 2016 Ryan's Reindeer Run 2016 st ar t s at t he Medic a l A r t s Com- plex Field in Dow ntow n Fayet tev ille. It is a celebrat ion of life and hope and a ll t he t hings Ryan stood for and dreamed of in his shor t life. Like many loc a l resident s, it was t he A r my t hat brought Ryan's family to Fayet tev ille. T hey st ayed and made it home. Ryan prospered here. He played soccer and basketba ll. He believed in helping his fellow man and even won t he 2001 Gov- er nor 's Award for Out st anding Volunteer Ser v ice. He g raduated second in his high school class and was accepted to Pr inceton Uni- versit y. T hen, he was diag nosed w it h Hodgk in's Ly mphoma . Ryan died 15 mont hs later at t he age of 18 f rom complic at ions of a bone mar row t ransplant . But even dur ing t he f ight for his life, Ryan gave ever y t hing he had — and w rote a book about it , too. Ryan's book , c a lled Run Because You Can — My Personal Race with Cancer, t a lk s about t he cha llenges he faced dea ling w it h his illness dur ing his senior year of high school. It covers how he faced cha llenges and t r ied to keep his life as nor ma l as possible while dea ling w it h his illness. It is an inspir ing peek into t he hear t and mind of a f ighter. Ryan's Reindeer Run is a 5k wa lk/r un t hat benef it s t he Ryan P. K ish- baugh Memor ia l Foundat ion as well as ot her char it ies t hat help c ancer pat ient s and children in need. Since it s incept ion in 2003, t he foundat ion has g iven more t han $150,000 to loc a l non- prof it s in Ryan's memor y. T his is a popular event w it h be- t ween 800-1,000 r unners each year, so consider reg ister ing early. It is fest ive and family-f r iendly – br ing your f r iends. Br ing t he k ids, st roll- ers, too. Br ing t he dog (on a leash). One of t he t hings t hat ma kes t his r un so much f un is t he cost ume contest . T here are pr izes for t he top t hree pet f inishers and t heir ow ners, top t hree family f inishers, best cost umed r unners and t he top t hree st rollers and r unners and best decorated st rollers. " We are excited for anot her successf ul year of t he r un. Based on t he early reg ist rat ion, it look s like we'll have a g reat crowd again," said Ro- ber t a Humphr ies, Ryan's mom and race coordi- nator. " We are eager to see t he creat ive g roup cost umes again." She added t hat "anot her t hing I'm excited about hav ing to do w it h Ryan is t hat Vic to- r ia Cameron, t he for mer Headmaster at Fayet tev ille Ac ademy, has cont ac ted var i- ous universit y librar ies and over 40 universit y and college librar ies have accepted Ryan's book including Pr inceton Ryan would have gone to school." T here are pr izes for t he top t hree overa ll ma le and fema le f inishers and t he top t hree ma le and fema le f inishers in t he follow ing age div i- sions: under 13, 13-16, 17-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40- 4 4, 45- 49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69 and 70 and over. A ll under 13 par t icipant s receive a f inisher 's award. Teams are encouraged to compete as well. T here is a team t rophy presented to t he school, club or organizat ion w it h t he largest number of par t icipant s. Not based on t ime but on t he number of reg ist rant s. Include t he name of t he organizat ion on t he ent r y for m. Minimum of 10 ent r ies to be considered a g roup. It 's become a t radit ion for Humphr ies to search out reindeer-t hemed t rophies to hand out to t he w inners each year. The route has a few hills and is challenging by design. Even though this is a fun event, Humphries wants people to remember that life is chal- lenging, too. The course leaves the Medical Arts Building parking lot and goes up Haymount Hill and through the Haymount neighborhoods. Race registration costs bet ween $20 for individuals under the age of 13 running the 5k and $130 for a family of six members running the 5k. Package pickup is Friday, Dec. 16 from 5-8 p.m. at Breezewood Healthcare, which is located at 200 Forsy the Street, Packets are also available Saturday, Dec. 17 at the race site from 7 – 8:30 a.m. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. The awards ceremony is at 9:30 a.m. Reg ister at ac t ive.com. Find out more about Ryan at ht t p:// w w w.r yansreindeer- r un.com. A Celebration of Life by STEPHANIE CRIDER COVER STORY STEPHANIE CRIDER, Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200