By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The 9th annual Hunter’s 5K Run and 1 Mile Fun Run took place this past Sunday, April 7th at the Kingsbury Club in Medfield, MA. Hunter’s Run Foundations’ mission is to raise Organ Donation Awareness for those who need financial help as Boston Children’s Pediatric Transplant Center sees fit. This organization additionally raises funds to help Donate Life and NEADS, just to name a few organizations.
The weather conditions were excellent for runners this year, cloudy with just a bit of chill in the air. Crowds of families and friends came together to either run or walk this 5K in honor of Hunter.
Hunter Williams, son of Kristin and Blake Williams, was a two-time double lung transplant recipient who enjoyed 15 years of beautiful life because of two-donors. In December of 2009, at just 21 months old, Hunter received his first new pair of lungs. He had about five amazing years with these lungs until they began to decline into chronic rejection. On July 16th, 2015, Hunter then received his second gift of life, another set of beautiful lungs.
Unfortunately, complications arose from this transplant, and Hunter passed away on June 16th, 2023. This is the first race in which Hunter was no longer present to attend, but his memory reigned through in all aspects of the race.
Around 8:45 am, sixteen runners gathered at the starting line to participate in the 1 Mile Fun Run. Both kids and adults ran down Icehouse Road, the race lasting around 20 minutes. Patrick Connorsider, age ten, finished the run in nine minutes and ten seconds, while Grace Rooney, age seven, finished in ten minutes and twenty two seconds.
Once this 1 Mile Fun Run concluded, it was time for the 147 5K participants to gather at the starting line. Included within this group of runners was Hunter’s dad, Blake, many members of the community who were excited to run for a good cause, and even a handful of canine companions. Medfield Police Officers were set up around the race route to pause traffic from time to time and let the runners through.
Shea Coughlin, age 18, finished this 5K race with a time of nineteen minutes and fifty six seconds, making him the first person to conclude the race. Chloe McCormack, age 17, finished with a time of twenty two minutes and thirteen seconds, making her the first female finisher of the 5K.
Hunter’s mother Kristin is the race director of these two races and went to write on the registration forms, “The mission of Hunter’s Foundation is to bring awareness to the importance of Organ Donation. Without his donors, Hunter would not have had the beautiful life he was blessed. Please come and support this amazing cause and help us raise awareness about the critical need to increase the number of registered organ donors and the impact it creates.”
Congratulations to all those runners who participated in this year's Hunter’s 5K Run and 1 Mile Fun Run!
