One Run Relay Crosses Finish In Support of Marathon Bombing Victims

Jon Parlby with One Run for Boston organizers Kate Treleaven, Jamie Hay and Danny Bent.

It took three weeks, stretched across more than a dozen states, and raised around $80,000 for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, but just after midnight on Monday, July 1, the last stretch of the “One Run” came to a close as participants passed the finish line.

Put together by three friends from England in the days following the April 15 attack, the One Run for Boston started in California to show support for those impacted by the tragedy and ended in a celebration on Boylston Street with organizers of the Marathon.

During the 3,500-mile journey, runners signed up to take on certain stretches of the non-stop relay across America, handing off a homemade “torch” as a symbol of the progress they made as they pushed themselves through rugged terrain—including desert landscapes and city streets—in order to make it to Boston. Plymouth University 3D Product Design student Jon Parlby designed the torch and joined in on the last miles of the run.

Runners started on the West Coast and passed off the symbolic torch hand-to-hand in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and finally, Massachusetts.

As they traveled from state to state, the group picked up national sponsors that helped them stay hydrated and provided apparel emblazoned with the charity’s name across the front of T-shirts.

While the runners were slightly behind schedule, the last leg from Newton to Boylston Street wrapped up around 12:30 a.m. and included more than 650 runners. “This has been a truly awesome event, which started as a seed and needed the people of America to transform it into the success it has been. [The torch] design was perfect for One Run for Boston, showing the solidarity among runners whilst we remember those most affected by the blast,” said Danny Bent, one of the event’s organizers.

Bent said the item was donated to the Boston Athletic Association so it “continues to act as a symbol of national and international support.”