Finish Chelsea’s Run - 2012

Chelsea King

Chelsea King went on a run near her Poway, CA home on February 25, 2010. She never came home. A monster decided to take her from her family at the precious age of 17. They caught that horrible man and also linked him to the savage murder of another young girl, Amber Dubois. This monster had been deemed a danger to young girls by a doctor, but the state of California set him loose anyway. Chelsea’s parents have worked very hard to pass Chelsea’s Law that will make it much harder for these predators to hurt our kids.

At the time of Chelsea’s death, I lived in Hawaii. Her story still touched me deeply. Being a runner and the mother of a little girl, my heart broke when they found her. I still often think of Chelsea when I run. Her death reminds us that we can't take our safety for granted. Life is precious and it can be so horribly changed in a second.

About a week after her death, 5 men decided to take back their park. They came together with other volunteers to finish Chelsea’s run. The response was overwhelming, as thousands of people came. The King family was so touched, the decided to make the run a formal event. In 2011, the first official Finish Chelsea’s Run 5k occurred. All proceeds from the event go to provide scholarships in Chelsea’s name.

I heard about the event after the fact and was disappointed to have missed it. For 2012, I signed up to volunteer. I felt a very strong need to give back to the King family and the running community.

I volunteered this year for 2 shifts. I distributed shirts at the packet pick-up event and worked at the race itself. During the event I met many people that were significantly impacted by Chelsea and her story.

My friend Christian volunteered and Colby ran the 5k.

On race day we met Chelsea’s parents. They hugged us and thanked us for being there. I was very moved by their warmth and love for the strangers around them. I told Mrs. King (Kelly) that I wished we didn’t need to be there and that Chelsea was off at college winning races and pursuing her dreams. Kelly said, “she is here. I feel her her in all of you.” Choking back tears, we made our way to the finish line where we would be serving for the race.

Christian and I were helping with the timing company. I was calling out bib numbers and she was recording their times. It was a fast and crazy time. Our favorite race announcer, Rudy Novotny was calling the race. Colby came in with a blazing time of 21:59, for 4th in his age division.

At some point I noticed Mr. and Mrs. King out on the course waving, cheering, and high fiving the runners. Kelly is very full of life and was jumping up and down in her excitement. They seemed like such an amazing family. The thought crossed my mind that I wished things were different for them. They deserved better. Chelsea deserved better.


Brent and Kelly King welcoming in the runners

Runners of all ages finished Chelsea’s run this year. Teenage girls in tears who I assumed must have been Chelsea’s friends. At the end of the race a young woman and her Mom started talking to us and thanking us for being there. We found out that they were Chelsea’s Aunt and Cousin, visiting from San Francisco. We exchanged hugs and promises to see each other next year.

As I left the event, I couldn’t help but think of my own little girl, safely at home. I prayed that God would protect her and allow her to be free in her world without fear of monsters.

We run with Chelsea because her run will never be finished.

For more information and how you can help, please go to www.chelseaslight.org