The race begins at 10 a.m. on Sunday at Clarksburg State Forest; the 1-mile walk at 10:30.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — In August 2001, Jocelyn LeClair passed away at the young age of 15 from spinal meningitis.

 

The following spring, in 2002, her friend and Drury High School teammate Allison Holmes founded the Jocelyn E. Leclair Memorial Scholarship race to honor LeClair and create an event to bring friends and family together to remember Jocelyn's fun and loving spirit.

 

Now, 14 years later, her parents Bob and Pat LeClair have decided that this year's Sunday, May 3, race will be the last run.

 

"Pat and I just decided we wanted to step down from doing it," Bob LeClair said. "If anyone else wants to keep it going, anyone who is a part of the race committee, then they can certainly do that, but we just wanted to call it the end for us."

 

Over the past 14 years, with the help of family, friends, and the community, the race has raised slightly more than $120,000. The money raised has gone to scholarships for Drury seniors, McCann Tech seniors, the Northern Berkshire YMCA, and the North Adams Police Department's ROPES program.

 

Holmes, who back in 2002 was still attending Drury, hoped to start the race to honor her friend's memory and give back in Jocelyn’s name. Her hopes certainly have been realized with the amount of money that has been raised through the community's support.

 

"Knowing how much she enjoyed track, I thought there would be no better way to honor her memory, come together as a community to heal, and raise money for a scholarship fund in her name, than with a 5K race," Holmes said. "I knew the first few years would draw large participation; for some the race was an opportunity to pause and reflect on the time they spent getting to know Jocelyn and to celebrate the life she lived to fullest and for others it has become an annual race that they look forward to each spring.

 

"However, it is absolutely a testament to the Northern Berkshire community that the race has continued to thrive and raise money for the scholarship fund for the past 14 years."

 

The first couple of years when the race was still new, it had the largest group of participants, but as years have gone by, LeClair said there is an average of 120 runners and walkers combined. The race has become more of a reunion each spring with a lot of the same runners and walkers who come up year in and year out and have been supporting the race all along.

 

"It's very heart warming to see that each year," LeClair said. "The community has supported us: from the sponsors that we have every year, which some of them we’ve had  from the start, we've picked up more along the way, and it's just terrific that so many people contribute to this."

 

The race has been held at the Clarksburg State Forest every year since its start. There are numerous raffles and baskets that are given away, and various prizes for first, second, and third place, such as gift certificates and local merchandise. 

 

"It's changed a lot from the first few years, we've really incorporated more things into making it more of an event for people to come to," LeClair said. "We have a cookout now that we've been doing for three of four years now that comes with registering for that race. You can eat as many hot dogs and hamburgers as you want and just have a nice family event."

 

Although the Jocelyn E. LeClair Scholarship Race is coming to a close this spring, it won't be the end of what Jocelyn's life has brought to this community — her name will run on with all that the race and scholarship fund has been able to give back to high school students and local youth programs in North Adams.