The arrival of spring renews the anticipation of wonderful things to come and reminds us that Sean’s Run Weekend is on its way!

The 19th Annual Sean’s Run, with its many outstanding amenities, will take place at Chatham High School over the weekend of May 2 & 3, 2020. On Saturday May 2, the area’s premier spring bike ride, Sean’s Ride, will attract several hundred bicyclists.  Plus, on the same day, the Sean’s Run Organizing Committee will host the Sean’s Run Zumbathon, a 2-hour dance party for Zumba enthusiasts, as well as Jaime’s Race, an extraordinary run/walk for people with special needs. On Sunday, May 2, the 19th Annual 5K Run/Walk, Meghan’s Mile youth race, the Battle of the Belts World Championship, the Prevention Education Expo, and the Tribute to Victims and Survivors of Drunk Driving will be conducted.

Scheduled purposefully in the middle of high school prom season, Sean’s Run Weekend is more than an annual event that has attracted thousands of runners, bicyclists and walkers from across the northeast to charming Chatham village to participate in a well-produced event - it’s a reminder that a moment’s bad judgment can result in tragedy. Underage drinking, impaired driving, or failure to use seatbelts can take the lives of our children.

All the activities of Sean’s Run are annual reminders that drunk driving crashes –like the one on January 1, 2002 that claimed the life of Sean Patrick French – are preventable when communities work together. At the time of his death, Sean was a champion runner, honor roll student, and community volunteer. The crash also paralyzed his friend Ian Moore. The two juniors were passengers in a car driven by an intoxicated schoolmate who had also been arrested for drunk driving just 18 days earlier. Sean and Ian were not wearing seat belts.

Thanks to generous sponsor support and donations from participants, Sean’s Run has raised $244,095 that has funded prevention programs at schools and youth organizations across the region and rewarded outstanding high school students with scholarships. 

It is only right that a footrace memorializes Sean’s life. From age seven until his death at 17, Sean compiled an astounding list of running accomplishments and became one of the finest local high school athletes of his generation.  As a sophomore, he placed second in the New York State Public High School cross-country championships and the following spring ran the fastest metric mile of any sophomore in the State—4:18! That spring, at age 16, he took four firsts at both the Section II and the Patroon Conference championship track meets. That would be his final track and field season. 

More extraordinary, though, were his “non-running” attributes. A Sports Illustrated article, published three months after his death, described Sean as “selfless,” “gracious,” “caring,” “hard-working” — a “young goodwill ambassador who led by example in Chatham, in the running community, and beyond.”  The article noted that, “When 3,000 people attend the funeral services of a 17-year old, it is evidence that a community has lost someone recognized as very special.”  But Sean’s Run is more than a remembrance of one teen’s life; it is a community rising to say that losses like this are unacceptable.  Sean’s Run says “Never again.”

It is a reminder that underage drinking is no harmless rite of passage, but rather a dangerous flirtation with disaster.

We look forward to seeing you on the weekend of May 2 & 3, 2020 at Chatham High School. Be one of the more than1,500 runners, walkers, bicyclists or Zumba fitness fans who will come together to celebrate Spring, remember one very special young man, and say “Never again.”  Bring your running shoes and your smiles!