It’s been three years since Delmar lost one of its sons, and although Capt. Timothy Moshier may be gone, he is certainly not forgotten.
The third annual Capt. Timothy J. Moshier Memorial 5K Run/Walk will hit the streets on Saturday, May 2. Moshier’s widow, Katie, said this year’s race is a little later to be less conflicting with other community events and to take advantage of some warmer weather.
Katie Moshier helped start the race three years ago and said this year the Captain Timothy J. Moshier Foundation is offering free admission to all disabled veterans who want to participate in the run/walk.
We moved it back, we learned our lesson last year, Moshier said. `It was Little League opening day and second week of spring break and there were five other races, plus the weather factor.`
Moshier is now a spokeswoman for STRIDE Adaptive Sports, a multidisciplinary, educational organization specializing in therapeutic recreation-related services for individuals with disabilities. She said some disabled vets approached her about participating in the event.
`We thought it would be a nice tribute to their service,` Moshier said about the disabled vets. `We just started opening the forms yesterday … and one was just a random local veteran so that’s exciting that we can offer this to them.`
The event has grown each year and organizers are hoping for another successful run.
The run/walk honors Moshier, who died while serving in Iraq on April 1, 2006, when the Apache helicopter he was flying was shot down. He was a Bethlehem graduate and the father of a newborn daughter. Katie Moshier has been on hand to help to organize the event each year and watches their daughter Natalie run in the Tot-Trot portion of the race.
`She going to be four, she’s going to be bumped up into the next category soon,` Moshier joked.
The event includes a kid’s race for five to 11 year olds and a `Tot Trot` for kids under five to run 26.2 yards, which like the kid’s race is a free event. Registration for the run/walk costs $15 and can be found at www.timothyjmoshier.com, at Re/Max Premier in Delaware Plaza in Delmar, or at the Jonesville Store in Jonesville.
Packet pickup will be on Friday, May 1, at Bethlehem Town Hall in Delmar from 5 to 7 p.m. Race day registration and packet pick up will begin at 7 a.m., Saturday, May 2, at the Bethlehem Middle School on Kenwood Avenue where the race will begin. Registration closes at 8 a.m., which is when the Tot Trot will begin. The main event begins at 9 a.m.
In 2008, the Captain Timothy J. Moshier Memorial Foundation, Inc. was established as a non-profit organization to continue Tim Moshier’s commitment to service by supporting the Fisher House and establishing a scholarship in his memory at Bethlehem Central High School. During the past three years, nearly $40,000 dollars has been donated to the organization.
`This year we’re having a raffle to go along with the race,` Moshier said.
The race committee is currently looking for individual and corporate sponsors to help offset the costs of the race and the raffle is a part of the fundraiser. Tickets are $5 each and are for a New York City Package, a NASCAR package, a `Dine around Albany` package and an office supplies package. Moshier said tickets may be purchased at registration areas.
The awards and raffle drawing will be at 10 a.m. at the middle school the day of the event.
Last year’s winner was Geoff Decker of Brooklyn, a 26-year-old runner and an original organizer of the event. Decker helped create the event in honor of his friend, and he finished the last race at 15:38, which was a little less than 2 minutes before the second place winner, Claudell Washington, 26, of Albany. He came in second for the men with 17:17 on the clock, and Chris Dewalt, 29, of Queens took third with 17:44.
The first-place female runner was Erin Boyle, 28, of Queens, Katie Moshier’s former college roommate. She crossed the finish line at 18:18. The second-place female was Eileen Leavitt, 42, of Delmar, with 20:14, and third place went to Katie Hodge, 36, of Delmar, who came in at 20:29.
Moshier herself crossed the finish line at 30:18.
`We do need volunteers, course marshals, especially, because they want us to have 42 course marshals,` Moshier said. `We need about 100 volunteers to staff it, we have quite a few so far but there’s a job for everybody. You don’t necessarily need to be able-bodied, there’s plenty to do for anyone who is interested.“