The 10th annual Katie’s Run, a project of the Katie McBride Foundation that honors the memory of Katie and the families of all childhood leukemia patients and those with other life-threatening diseases, will be held Sunday in New Hyde Park.
The event’s primary objective is to honor Katie while raising funds for and awareness of the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, an organization dedicated to helping families with sick children.
Michael McBride, Katie’s father and president of the New Hyde Park Funeral Home, established the foundation with his wife, Janine, in 2009 and hosted the first Katie’s Run in June 2010. Katie died in 2008 at age 11.
On what drove them to start the foundation, Michael McBride said, “In this crazy world we live in, people forget what happened yesterday.” The couple’s greatest fear was people forgetting about Katie’s life.
McBride said during the first run the foundation wondered where the money from the event should go. It was decided to give the money to the Ronald McDonald House as McBride was grateful for all the help his family received during Katie’s battle with leukemia. McBride saw the yearly races as a way of giving back. Katie and the family had been staying at the house.
McBride said that about 750 runners are pre-registered for Sunday’s event. McBride projects there will be about 1,000 participants depending on the weather.
In 2018, McBride received donations from the VFW Post 120 in Garden City Park and the New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce.
This year, he honored the chamber with a plaque commending it for supporting the foundation through the years. McBride called the plaque “long overdue recognition for them.”
Richard DeMartino, board member and past president of the New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, said about the McBrides, “They’re a very humble family.” DeMartino said the chamber has supported the run since the beginning by making a yearly donation of $1,000 to the Katie McBride Foundation.
He said of the event, “This is where you see people coming together.”
McBride said New Hyde Park was a tight-knit community, adding, “It’s indicative of how many volunteers come out.”
Katie’s Run will kick off at 9 a.m. at the New Hyde Park Funeral Home at 506 Lakeville Road in New Hyde Park. The 5K and two-mile courses both end inside Memorial Park.
Registration is available online at Katiemcbridefoundation.org. Advance registration for the 5K race and two-mile run cost $35 before Sunday. It costs $40 to register on the day of the run.
