Race organized by Westminster teen
Submitted photo Vittoria Colautti, who will be a freshman this fall at Oakmont Regional High School where she plans to play field hockey, indoor track and lacrosse, has organized the inaugural Runners Helping Neighbors 5K Run/Fitness Walk which will take place on Sunday, Aug. 9 in Westminster.
Ken Powers
Sports Correspondent
As Overlook Middle School’s Project 351 Ambassador last year, Vittoria “Tori” Colautti participated in several volunteer projects in Boston. This community service was so rewarding and enriching Colautti found herself wanting to do more.
Project 351 is an annual one-day event in Boston that brings together eighth-graders from every city and town in Massachusetts. While volunteerism and community service are the focal points of the program, the participants also develop leadership skills and discuss important issues facing today’s youth.
“Through Project 351 I helped out with the Cradles to Crayons program and put together food packages at the Boston Food Bank,” explained the 14-year-old freshman-to-be at Oakmont Regional. “It was nice to know that I was helping people, it was a real good feeling, but I found myself wanting to be able to help people I know in my own community so I could see how the help was impacting them.”
While many different ideas about how to provide help closer to home surfaced, Colautti liked one more than all the others — a 5K road race held in conjunction with Westminster’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors annual Town Benefit Day on Sunday, Aug. 9 on Academy Hill.
Established in 1987, Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization which provides assistance to Westminster residents who, through no fault of their own, are faced with tragedy and financial difficulties. Since its inception, NHN has helped more than 150 families and raised nearly $400,000.
“When I was in third grade I ran in the Westminster 250th Anniversary Road Race. It was something that I really liked and there was a huge turnout. I think more than 200 runners participated,” Colautti said. “It was something a lot of people were interested in. We do a lot of food drives in our community and in school and people participate, but people seemed to really respond to the road race.”
Colautti’s vision has become a reality. Along with all the other activities that have become synonymous with Town Benefit Day, the inaugural Runners Helping Neighbors 5K Run/Fitness Walk will also take place on Aug. 9.
“The road race is a way to raise money for (NHN) and to attract people from other towns to Town Benefit Day, which will be held after the race,” Colautti said. “The road race goes up and around Academy Hill and then the awards ceremony will be held on Academy Hill during the actual celebration of Town Benefit Day.”
The road race — which begins and ends at Meetinghouse School on South Street — will get underway at 10:30 a.m. (day of race registration ends at 9:30 a.m.). The awards ceremony is scheduled for noon. The cost of the race is $25 per person and cash prizes of $100, $75 and $50 will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers.
For more information on the Runners Helping Neighbors 5K Run/Fitness Walk, or to register for the race click on the following link: https://runsignup.com/Race/MA/Westminster/RunnersHelpingNeighbors5KRunFitnessWalk.
Everything necessary to make Colautti’s fundraising road race a success is in place except for sponsors, volunteers and most importantly, runners. To date only about 25 runners have registered to participate.
“We’re trying to get more people interested in the race, but because it’s summer people haven’t really found out about it,” Colautti explained. “I can’t promote it through school and have people find out about it that way, so not too many people know about it. I went in with really high expectations from what I’ve seen in road races I’ve participated in, but now I’m starting to get worried because the turnout is so low right now.”
To help raise awareness of the event Colautti said Westminster Police Chief Sam Albert is going to inquire about the possibility of having an announcement about the race placed on the town’s large portable lighted sign and have the sign placed in close proximity to Route 2. Colautti said she is also going to see about having an announcement about the race placed in local church bulletins.
Colautti said the most nerve-wracking part of planning the road race was having to pitch her idea to the NHN Committee.
“That was a little scary, but Chief Albert was on the committee and he has helped me with the project so we kind of presented the proposal together. That helped me relax a little bit and be less nervous,” she said. “The committee was really interested in the idea because, apparently, they had been thinking about creating a road race to help (NHN) for a while. So when they saw someone come forward with this idea they were open to it.”
Colautti, who plans to play field hockey, participate in indoor track and play lacrosse at Oakmont, competed in outdoor track for the first time this past spring. She did very well, qualifying for the Middle School State Meet in both the 800 and the mile.
“I was a little surprised I did so well,” said Colautti, who was also a member of the Overlook Middle School Student Council and the Drama Club. She also has participated in the Science Fair in previous years. “I had run a couple 5Ks last fall, but I never had much time for running because of the other sports I participate in.”
No matter what the turnout for the road race ends up being, John Colautti, Tori’s father, is quite impressed by his daughter’s efforts to help others.
“It’s kind of important to have kids recognize the importance of being part of the community and giving back,” John Colautti said. “I am very proud of her.”
No comments:
Post a Comment