Bunny’s Run
Benefit 5K run/1-mile walk
By Andy Cecala
On Saturday, September 11 at 11:00 am at the Schenley Park Oval in Oakland, there will be a benefit 5K run/1-mile walk for Ms. Bunny Schmidt. Bunny, a long-time cross country coach for the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, is battling cancer for the third time. All profits from this benefit 5K run/1-mile walk will go to help pay for her medical costs.
Bunny’s love for running all started when her oldest son ran cross country at Baldwin High School back in the mid-nineties and Bunny was battling breast cancer for the first time. To support her son, she would go and sit in the stands to watch him practice. As her health improved, she continued going to the track and started walking and running herself. Even when her son finished cross country and then graduated, she continued running and was asked to be the cross country coach at Harrison Middle School. Bunny’s gentle spirit, love for others, and her love for running was the perfect mix to mentor the boys and girls cross country runners at the Baldwin-Whitehall school district over the years, where she has touched so many lives. Bunny was known to have the whole junior high cross country team over to her house for dinner. After long-time cross country coach Bill Veith retired, Bunny moved up to coach at the high school level with Rich Wright. In the four years that Bunny has coached at the high school, the boy’s team has qualified for the state finals in Hershey every year.
After having knee surgery a few months ago, it was determined that her cancer had returned for a third time, which was now in the form of bone cancer.
Please come out and help support this very special person that is so well known in the junior high and high school running community in Western Pennsylvania by participating in this benefit 5K run/1-mile walk.
The entry fee for the benefit race is $20.00. The first 150 registrations will receive a free tee-shirt. This benefit race will follow the Baldwin-Whitehall High School’s Red, White, and Blue Cross Country Invitational.
The Bunny’s Run benefit race will run the exact same course immediately following the Red, White & Blue Classic - the high school invitational. This is a grass/soft limestone course around the beautiful Schenley Park Oval in Oakland, PA. Individuals wishing to participate in this race can register on-line at http://events.eliterunners.com.
Applications will also be available at the Athletic Office at Baldwin-High School, the Whitehall Borough Building, Library, and Pool, or by contacting Bill Veith, 4702 W. Lawnview Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15227, 412-884-1261.
Registration can also take place on race day for $20.00 between 8:30 am and race time, 11:00 am. If you are not able to run or walk in Bunny’s Run but would like to give a donation, checks can be made out to “Sports Unlimited” and mailed to Bill Veith, 4702 W. Lawnview Lane, Pittsburgh, PA 15227. Please come out for this great cause to help this very special person.