Inaugural Race 4 Chase Honors Young Sandy Hook Athlete

Close to 200 young participants ages 6-12 ran, biked and swam at the first annual Race 4 Chase.  The event was held at Great Hollow Lake in Wolfe Park in Monroe, CT on Sunday, July 13th, 2014 at 9:00 AM. 

The race was organized by the Chase Kowalski Memorial Fund (CMAK), a charity founded by the parents of Chase Kowalski, a victim of the Sandy Hook tragedy of 12/14. CMAK's vision is "to turn tragedy into triumph by healing and strengthening our families and communities."

According to the charity's website, Chase was an athlete from an early age. His mother writes:

"Chase was a runner shortly after he started walking. I remember one day we were at CVS, he took off running down the aisles and we could hardly catch him. Being a boy I wasn’t concerned that he wasn’t talking much, at his year-and-a-half doctors visit, we could communicate with each other, we shared our own language, but the doctor was concerned. We monitored him as he got older and still the speech wasn’t there. We had Birth to Three come and evaluate him but he didn’t qualify.   He was too smart with just a speech delay. That summer he was two-and-a-half and started his running career at the Bethel High summer track program. It was there that he competed in his first events:  the 50 meter, the 100 meter, and the 400 meter. By three he was put into the preschool system and started to get speech therapy."

Awards were given to the top male and female of each age group. All funds raised for participant fees was donated to the Chase Kowalski Memorial Fund. 

Derrick Dumoulin, a parent of children who participated in the race said of the event, "Congrats to the organizers and volunteers on a very well run inaugural event! Both of our children were able to participate and had a great time with their friends. Not many dry eyes in the crowd when the parents of Chase Kowalski spoke. What strong parents. This is the kind of family event we all need to have in our community at large."

For more information or to donate to CMAK, click here.