The Annual “Run It Out 5K” fun-run and walk will be held on April 30 at the Morris County Central Park. The event honors the life of Brian Fleury, who served as an English teacher, athletic director, and head baseball coach at Delbarton. Fleury battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for more than twenty years before he passed away in 2007 at the age of 40. Diagnosed when he was in college, Fleury never wavered in his fight against cancer. During his time at Delbarton, he impacted the lives of countless students through his character, integrity, and courage. The name “Run It Out 5K” stems from one of his mantras, which means to play hard and to run out everything to the best of your ability. In baseball, Brian Fleury’s favorite sport, “run it out” meant that a base runner should keep running to the next base even if it seemed certain they would be out. However, the phrase applies to us all in life. Fleury left such an indelible mark on Delbarton students that former students who Fleury mentored gladly come to speak each year and reflect on how he changed their lives.

All proceeds from the race go to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, an organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education, and patient services. In the past three years, the race has raised over $45,000.00 for this great cause. This year the race will feature a new addition: a bone marrow drive. The event has partnered with Be the Match, a non-profit organization who has managed the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world. Bone marrow transplants are vital for those with blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Blood cancers can negatively affect the marrow’s ability to function. When this happens, a bone marrow transplant can sometimes be the only option. A transplant replaces unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy ones which can grow into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Before and after the race, people between the ages of 18 and 45 years old will be asked to register to be part of the national bone marrow registry and potentially save someone’s life. According to Be the Match, at any given time, there are 14,000 people whose only hope for a cure is a transplant and 70 percent of them will not be able to find a match within their own family, thus, they will have to rely on the kindness of strangers. The process is simple: fill out health forms and do a cheek swab. The swabs will be sent to a lab and “matches” will be made, matching potential donors with people who need bone marrow transplants.

You can sign up for the run here: https://raceroster.com/events/2017/11776/run-it-out-5k