St. John’s Walks and Runs in Honor of Boston

On Friday, May 3, the St. John’s High School community gathered in support of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. The school sponsored a “dress down” day when students could provide a donation to benefit the Boston Marathon One Fund (OneFundBoston.org), which was established to raise money to help the families most affected by the tragic events of the Boston Marathon. Students and faculty were encouraged to wear Boston gear and marathon colors of blue and yellow.

After school on Friday, the entire St. John’s community was invited to a brief prayer service and mile walk/run at the track on Main Street in Shrewsbury. Math teacher Chris Benestad, who ran in the 2013 Boston Marathon and came in 328^th place, gave a talk at the start of the event on the unbelievable solidarity and positivity that resulted not only in the Boston area but around the world from such a tragic event.

Before the students and teachers circled the track, he echoed the words that came from London following the tragedy: "Run if you can, walk if you must, but finish for Boston." Students and teachers ran and walked four laps around the track to honor those impacted by the events of Marathon Monday.