Brandon Feyler Memorial 5k

Tomorrow I direct the 2nd Annual Brandon Feyler Memorial 5k. I started planning this race in the spring of 2011. Originally it was going to be a September race starting that year, but where that was so close to the date that Brandon, or BJ as we called him, passed, we moved it to late Spring of 2012.

I wanted to start this race as a way to honor my cousin, and the funds will be used to provide scholarships to students that will be going into any ocean studies majors in college.

BJ, who was only 17 years old, was on the Candy B II (a scalloping vessel), along with three other crew members, that was lost at sea about 8 hours out from Provincetown, Massachusetts in mid-October of 2003. Various scenarios have been mentioned such as possibly a larger vessel hitting the boat and sinking it, the dragging equipment fetching up and taking the boat under, or possibly a large wave capsizing the boat.

However, nothing was ever found and we will never know what actually happened, and this October will mark the 10th anniversary of this tragic event.

Time seems to have flown by.

On a lighter note...

My cousin was very involved with sports and loved working out at sea, so doing a race in his name and providing scholarships to kids going into ocean studies seems fitting.

The race starts at the high school he attended and is an out and back run on Manktown Rd. in Waldoboro, Maine.

Last year we only had 24 people race and walk the run. With it being the first year of the race, I wasn't sure what to expect, so I was happy with the turn-out. Only 2 people pre-registered last year, everyone else registered the day of the race.

This year we have had 12 people pre-register and I know of quite a few people coming that are going to register that day. I hope that this is a sign that we will double or even triple the number of registrants compared with last year.

We are giving out medals to the top 3 male and female racers and we have prizes that will be raffled off at the end of the race.

We also made up race tees for the first 25 registrants this year as a way to entice people to sign up. (I think it helped!)

I hope to take lots of pictures tomorrow and give you a recap of the race from my perspective. Not as a racer, but as a director.

Wish me luck!

                                                             xoxo,