The Katie Lynch Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon/5k and Purples Shoes Challenge is moving.
"Katie's Races", a half marathon, 5k and Purple Shoes Challenge, will be happening in November of 2012 with start and finishes at Wayland High School. More details on the event will be coming soon. Stay tuned!
Purple Shoes Challenge Reflections for 2011
The heavy rain that we all awoke to on May 15 did not disturb the Purple Shoes Challenge athletes, whose event is held indoors. All arrived, eager to see what they could accomplish. While waiting for the races to start, one young athlete opined that she wished she had purple shoes. A savvy volunteer grabbed the purple duct tape and added a strip on each of the young girl’s sneakers. Before the starting gun sounded, the purple duct tape went viral and across the field house everyday footwear became “purple shoes.”
A large percentage of this year’s athletes were veterans, but we also welcomed new participants, along with a great many first time volunteers. Wayland High School, Katie’s alma mater, showed up in large numbers, bringing with them a youthful enthusiasm and fan appreciation that rocked the Newton Hills and the Field House.
The 2011 video offers you a taste of the day’s joy with highlights from the Half Marathon, the 5K, and the Purple Shoes Challenge. We also hope it conveys the powerful promise of Katie’s Race Day to integrate athletes of varying abilities into an event where every individual sets a personal goal and is supported by others in reaching it. It may be a seasoned half marathoner, a young person with a physical disability who is finding their way into the greater community while developing a healthy lifestyle, a charity team member raising funds for the Katie Lynch Foundation, or perhaps a group of novice runners who choose to run because their registration fees support athletes who lack opportunities and along the way discover they really love running. No matter who it is or what they contribute – it all adds up to a better life for us all.
We want to thank all those who made the day such a great success for our athletes. For those of you who couldn’t be with us this year, we hope you will be able to join us in the future as an athlete, a volunteer, or a fan. In the words of a volunteer who is training to become an adaptive physical education teacher, “The Purple Shoes Challenge is probably the greatest thing I have ever participated in.”
- THE PURPLE SHOES TEAM