Annual Run For Waterside School Aims To Bring Community Together

STAMFORD, CT — On Oct. 23, the Waterside School and Stamford community will come out for the 10th annual Run For Waterside event to raise funds for the Jeff Long Endowment fund.

The fund was established in 2018 in loving memory of Long, a Brunswick School alum in Greenwich and then a member of the Associate Board at Waterside. Long tragically died at the age of 36 in a bicycling accident in Washington, D.C. three years ago.

The cost to participate in the 5K run, which will take place on school grounds and around Harbor Point, is $25. There's a virtual component as well due to COVID-19. Attendees can sign-up and run wherever they are for however long they want between Oct. 16 and Oct. 23.

Proceeds will provide scholarship support for Waterside students, and help to further advance the values Long stood for, such as selflessness, loyalty, dedication, humility and respect.

Long's impact on Waterside is everlasting. Just inside the entryway to the school is a piece of artwork that reads "It's Cool To Be Nice", one of Long's signature phrases. It helps to remind students and staff how to treat others.

"I think Jeff was a really special person as he was one of the leading members of Waterside's Associate Board when it first started," said Jessica Chang, Dean of Studies at Waterside, a member of the organizing committee for the run, as well as a member of the Associate Board.

"He used to tutor our students, he used to give back to this community so much. We try to teach our students about him and his life," Chang added.

Long also had a special bond with Duncan Edwards, the former Head of School at Brunswick and Executive Director at Waterside.

"He was Duncan Edwards' last student body president [at Brunswick], so he had a really great relationship with him," Chang noted.

Last year, students participated in a run at the school, and all other guests attended virtually due to COVID-19. Chang said it's "the best feeling ever" to be back in-person for 2021.

About 400-500 people are expected in-person, with the same amount taking part in the virtual option.

"Our community is just so strong, and this is one of our biggest community building events. We have our alumni come back, and it's almost similar to a high school or college homecoming for our students, and our graduates always refer to Waterside as being their home," Chang said. "We serve mostly students in Stamford, and we really care about our partnerships with the community. To be able to be back in-person and feel that intangible joy and excitement and love that everyone has for this school and for each other, I can't even put it into words."

To see so many people come out during the pandemic is extra special for Chang.

"For someone who has been here since almost the beginning of the run, it just means so much to our school to see how everyone can rally together and be together and bring joy and positivity to this event. We aren't Waterside without the community that we have around us and the relationships that we have with each other. This event really epitomizes that for us. It just means the world for us," Chang added.

For more information and to sign-up for the event, or to learn how to donate in other ways, click here.