On October 15 students, teachers, staff, friends and family all came out to support the first ever Calais School 5K Charity Run for special needs children and young adults. 

Thank you to the over 85 runners and walkers, our team of 24 volunteers, and 12 local sponsors that included NJM, Provident Bank and others, for raising almost $6,000 for the Calais School and its mission of providing a safe, nurturing and academically challenging environment for students requiring new behavioral and academic strategies in a non-judgmental atmosphere.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better turnout this Saturday or a more beautiful day,” said John Cohrs, Calais’ new Executive Director. “It was uplifting to see so many people join us in support!”

Getting ready for the 5k was well underway hours before race day! On Friday evening, Calais volunteers stayed late to hand out race bibs and t-shirts. On race day, more volunteers woke up before dawn to set up the course cones and collaborate with local police and Comp-U-Score to set up the scoring and timing.

By 8:30 am, runners and walkers took their marks at the starting line and were off on a 3.1 mile USATF sanctioned Grand Prix route through the quiet Whippany neighborhood. Volunteers in red t-shirts and pom-poms cheered on the Calais runners as they made their way. Some even ran with their dogs and strollers in tow.

While we couldn’t be more proud of every participant completing the 5K course, a few runners had exceptional race times and were acknowledged with gift cards from Capital Craft and Super Chix of East Hanover.

Fastest Students

  • Christopher D (37:13.32),
  • Oscar A (39:35.7)
  • Matthew (39:42.33)

Fastest Staff 

  • Gina Gregorian (32:22.35)
  • Brian Kraus ( 33:25.43)
  • Tara Nelson (33:25.47)
  • Lee Kraus (33:43.58)

During the race, DJ Nick pumped up runners with rockin’ tunes and Ivy Rehab passed out fun swag like water bottles and tote bags. Other sponsors provided race participants with healthy snacks and water.

Thank you to all sponsors for making this event better than ever.

  • Ivy Rehab in Whippany
  • Sterling Rose LLC
  • American BBQ Company
  • NJ Elite Soccer Academy
  • Provident Bank
  • NJM Insurance Group
  • The Godfather Pizza of East Hanover
  • Vice Principal Patrick Cooper
  • Robin Clementi
  • DJ Nick
  • Capital Craft and Super Chix of East Hanover

This extraordinary day showed us that the special needs community can join forces in a fun, positive and social way. Groups of Calais Alumni joined in the race and stayed together for its duration cheering on their friends. We all enjoyed seeing some old and new Calais faces and celebrating our first 5k. We hope this will be the first of many 5Ks and maybe next Fall, we’ll see even more of you lined up at the starting line! Go Calais Cougars!

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