TOWNSEND — The 9th annual Gregory E. Reeves Memorial Scholarship Run drew about 400 runners on Oct. 12 to commemorate the life of the North Middlesex Regional High School graduate from Townsend.
Greg’s mother Deb Reeves said that although she doesn’t yet know exactly how much money the race brought in, she expects to distribute at least $10,000 in scholarship money to seniors at North Middlesex.
Gregory Reeves was struck and killed while on a run as a sophomore at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Deb Reeves said the scholarship run is an appropriate tribute to her son, who valued education and ran track throughout high school.
“When we lost Greg in 2004, he was a sophomore at WPI and he was able to attend primarily because of scholarships. Education was extremely important to Greg. He wanted to attend WPI and we couldn’t afford WPI without the scholarships he received. We decided to establish the scholarship. Whatever we could do to help other kids would be a great honor to him,” she said.
The scholarships are distributed every spring, usually to three North Middlesex students who exemplify two of Greg’s greatest traits, said his mother, academic achievement and character.
Recipients are chosen by a committee made up of some of Greg’s friends as well as teachers and administrators at the high school.
Since the run was established, it has generated more than $75,000 in scholarship money.
The 4.6-mile run began at 5 Brookline St. and featured cash prizes as well as awards for each age group.
Deb said the support of the community, both by sponsors and participants, is invaluable to keeping the race going year after year. This year’s sponsor list included more than 35 primarily local businesses.
“We couldn’t do this without the wonderful sponsors and fabulous volunteers that work so hard up to and on race day. We just had the idea, and my family has been very supportive. But we have a phenomenal amount of wonderful volunteers and the sponsors are so generous. That’s the only way we can continue to do it,” she said.
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