Run, Scholarship Remember Fallen Marine

[cincymarsdad]

http://rodeo.cincinnati.com/getlocal...043&sid=103102


When Lynne Mick runs the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 29, she’ll be doing more than just challenging herself to a test of endurance that most people wouldn’t dare attempt. She’ll also be remembering fallen Marine Chris Dyer, who was killed in Iraq on August 3, 2005, and raising money for the scholarship that bears his name.

“I could go out and run a marathon just to do it, but it’s very meaningful for me to do it for another reason,” says Mick, who lives in Sharonville. “It’s really important for me to do something to honor what Chris did and the sacrifice he made.”

Like Mick, Dyer was a graduate of Evendale Elementary and Princeton High School. After he was killed in Iraq, Dyer’s parents created the Christopher Dyer Memorial Scholarship Fund at Princeton. The service-oriented scholarship awards $10,000 towards college tuition for four years to a graduating senior based on community service, grades, SAT scores and extracurricular participation.

Mick says the decision to run the Marine Corp Marathon and raise money for the scholarship was made after her son, Benjamin, went on Evendale Elementary’s fifth-grade trip to D.C. last spring. “They had a wreath-laying ceremony at Chris’s grave in Arlington,” she says. “This run starts and ends at Arlington, so I decided to do it in Chris’s name.” Although she never had the chance to meet Dyer, Mick says she “feels a connection with him” because of their similar backgrounds.

Mick’s goal is to raise $5,000 for the scholarship fund. She’s been wearing a shirt with Dyer’s picture on it while training to raise awareness about what she’s doing.

“I'm very appreciative of her efforts,” says John Dyer, Chris’s father. “I think the support of this scholarship fund is a great thing for the community. Our first recipient was Drew Altman, and we expect to do this annually at Princeton.”

Kathy Dyer, Chris’s mother, is traveling to D.C. to cheer Mick on. She says she’s “completely excited, and very moved and touched” by what Mick is doing.

Mick has been running since 2000 and has run two other marathons, both in 2001. Although she took a break after her third child, Peter, was born and just resumed her training this year, she says she feels stronger than ever.

“This is my third marathon, and I’ve never felt so strong on my long runs,” she says. “When I feel like I can’t go on, I get this extra push, and I swear it’s from Chris.

“While I run, I think a lot about how I’m able to do it because of the sacrifices people like Chris have made,” she adds. “It is easy to take for granted that there are people fighting for the freedom that we enjoy so easily. I don't want to forget that.”

To make a donation, visit www.run4chris.com.