More than 200 participate in Memorial 5K Race/Walk

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

 DEXTER — Saturday was a bittersweet day for those who ran, walked and even pushed strollers in the Amy, Coty, Monica Memorial 5K Race/Walk to End Domestic Violence.

Observer photo/Mike Lange
RUN FOR A CAUSE — Runners take off at the 5th annual Amy, Coty and Monica 5K in Dexter on June 13. More than 300 people competed in the race and walking event.

 The weather was perfect and more than 200 people showed up for the event that started and ended at Dexter Regional High School.

 But the purpose of the 5K was evident throughout the community. On June 13, 2011 Amy Lake and her children, Coty and Monica, were killed by her estranged husband, Steven, who then took his own life. Amy Lake was a kindergarten teacher at Ridge View Community School.

 On the last leg of the race — the hill from Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union to the school grounds — posters of the Lake family members and names of other domestic violence victims lined the street. “It’s the most difficult part of the race,” said Newport Police Chief Len McDaid, one of the 129 registered runners. “But it reminded us of why we were there.”

 Money raised from the 5K will go toward purchasing proximity monitoring systems for domestic violence abusers, which consists of a bracelet on the offender and a pager for the victim. Last year, more than $14,000 was raised and organizer Kelly Worden Gay predicted that they’d either meet or exceed that amount.

 Gay addressed the crowd before the race began, noting that the Ridge View Community School staff “was brought to its knees once again by domestic violence during this past year.”

 On Dec. 20, 2014, Christina Sargent, 36; her son, Duwayne Coke, 10; and her daughter, Destiny Sargent, 8, were murdered in their Exeter home. Keith Coleman, 27, who lived with the family, has been charged with three counts of murder. Duwayne and Destiny were students at Ridge View.

 Gay said that after the December tragedy, some of her acquaintances questioned why the memorial 5K should even continue “because it doesn’t seem to do any good.” But she recalled what Art Jette of WomanCare/Spruce Run told her after the first memorial race. “We’ll never know the number of people that we saved. We only know the number of people that we lost,” she said. “That’s why we’re still here.”

  Somerset County was first in the state to implement proximity monitoring, said Sheriff Dale Lancaster, “and it’s working. On the back of your (event) t-shirts, one of the sayings is ‘Be part of the solution.’ By being here today, you are part of it.”

 Eric Smith, a Dexter Regional High School graduate who now lives in Bow, N.H., was the first runner across the finish line with a time of 19:28.33. “My folks live in Exeter, so I came over for the weekend,” Smith said. “The course was great, but that last hill was tough. Overall, it’s been great day and I’m glad to see the turnout.”

 Maryanna Ray of Ripley, who finished fourth overall, was the top female runner with a time of 20:24.92

 Beth Hunter of Dexter works at Ridge View Community School and said that Saturday “was a very emotional day for all of us. It’s a tough course, but I train for it. When I’m running, I keep thinking of why we’re doing it.”

 Chelsie Crane has competed in all five races, but Saturday’s event was even more challenging: she pushed a stroller with her two children, Piper and Paxton, to the finish line. “I knew Monica (Lake) and I feel it’s important to come out for this,” she said. “It shows that we won’t tolerate domestic violence in our town.”

 Crane joked that pushing the stroller uphill was a little grueling, but Paxton kept saying “Go mommy, go! He was my little motivator.”

 For the complete finish of Saturday’s race, visit www.coolrunning.com and click on the Recent Results tab.

Observer photo/Mike Lange
FIRST LADY — Maryanna Ray of Ripley was the first woman to cross the finish line at the 5th annual Amy, Coty and Monica 5K in Dexter. She was fifth in the field of 129.

Observer photo/Mike Lange
 FAMILY AFFAIR — Chelsie Crane of Dexter competed in her fifth Amy, Coty and Monica 5K on Saturday, but it was the first time she raced pushing a stroller with her children Piper, 2, and Paxton, 3.