5K To Honor Teacher Who Sacrificed His Life in Parkland Shooting

EAST ISLIP, NY — Residents of Long Island will honor a heroic teacher who sacrificed his life to protect his students in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

The third annual "Run 4 Beigel" race will be hosted in-person in Heckscher State Park on Saturday at 1 p.m., and virtually from Saturday through October 31 around the United States. The event will be a 5K run/walk taking place in multiple locations throughout the country and supporting the Scott J. Beigel Memorial Fund.

On February 14, 2018, Beigel, a geography teacher and the school's cross country coach, was struck by a bullet as he shut a classroom door behind him, protecting his students. He had unlocked his classroom briefly to let more students take shelter.

Friday would have been his 39th birthday.

Beigel, a Dix Hills native, was among 17 people killed in the shooting. This week, gunman Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty for those murdered.

Six days after this tragedy, his grieving cross country team came together in unity to run a 5K in honor of the memory of their beloved cross country coach. This act of grief later evolved into "Run 4 Beigel", to remember his legacy.

"As a camp counselor, cross country coach, teacher, and passionate mentor, Scott J. Beigel understood the importance of family and enduring through the most painful of situations," said the fund in a press release.

The Scott J. Beigel Memorial Fund was established after his death. In the three years since its founding, the fund has distributed grants of more than $350,000 to help send disadvantaged at-risk children touched by gun violence to summer sleep-away camps.

"As the years passed, this race has become an event uniting the Parkland community, Long Island community, and beyond in remembrance and celebration of Scott and all of those affected," said the release.

Runners can join the race together as a team, in person, or virtually. For more information and to register, click here.