Noah Farrelly loved to run. He was a cross country athlete at Binghamton High School and he was a runner for Stony Brook University athletics after graduating from BHS in 2018. It’s only fitting then that Noah’s mother, Bridgette, still wears a necklace which features the silhouette of Noah racing in the leadup to the memorial event in her son’s honor.
Noah sadly passed away in December 2018 due to being struck by a van while out for a run near the Stony Brook campus. Noah’s cross country teammates give Bridgette the necklace after his passing, and along with the Noah Farrelly Run and Southside Field Day, it's her way of knowing that Noah will live on.
“It was a way for us to process and cope with the grief that we were experiencing, so there's a lot of love that goes into this day.” Bridgette explains.
This year’s Noah Farrelly Run and Southside Field Day takes place on Sunday, June 1 at MacArthur Park. The registration tent for the 5K and 10K races open at 7 a.m., with the 10K race starting at 8:30 a.m. and the 5K race beginning at 10 a.m. There is also a Kids Fun Run at 11 a.m. a 16-team, double-elimination kickball tournament beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Along with the day of events, Bridgette over the years has found another way to give back. Each year, Bridgette works with shoe manufacturers and retailers to collect athletic shoes to give to BCSD elementary and middle school students. She has donated more than 2,000 pairs of shoes since the Noah Farrelly Memorial Fund was established in 2019, and that total includes about 500 pairs of shoes being donated this year. Bridgette gets to see the fruit of this labor firsthand. Working as a substitute teacher in the Binghamton City School District, she occasionally sees students wearing a pair of shoes which look familiar.
“I know that Noah would be very proud of it,” she adds “Most of the shoes are a running-style shoe because we want to inspire other Patriots to run and get involved in the sport.”
For the past six years, the Noah Farrelly Run and Southside Field Day has brought lasting joy to runners, and the community as a whole. Serving as a celebration of life, as well as a celebration of the increasingly warmer weather as we approach the end of the school year, hundreds of students and community members have spent time with one another having fun. Ultimately, though, for the family of Noah Farrelly, the event is fulfilling because they know Noah would have loved to take part in organizing as a way of giving back.
“It's really beautiful. It is a bittersweet day for us. It's a very emotional day for us. It's great to see everyone come out to support our fund and to support the race,” Bridgette notes. “It's gratifying that the race has grown so much because it means we're doing a good job. It means people really enjoy the experience that we created and we feel like that's and we know that Noah would be very proud of that too.”
Click here to learn more and register for the The Noah Farrelly Run and Southside Field Day