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Date: 2/26/2020
WILBRAHAM – Beginning on March 21, Bill Wells will spend 24 hours running 100 miles, and he’ll be doing it for the kids.
Wells, who works at Wilbraham Monson Academy, has partnered with Rick’s Place, a Wilbraham-based organization, for the first-ever Rick’s Place Run Hundred. Wells will run a one–mile route that loops around Post Office Park 100 times. All proceeds from the charity run will benefit the organization.
Rick’s Place was established in 2007 to honor Rick Thorpe, a Minnechaug Regional High School graduate who died in Tower Two of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The organization provides free grief support to children and families.
“This is a huge, selfless act of charity,” said Diane Murray of Rick’s Place. “Those funds would support our free services for an increasing number of children, teens and families in need of grief support.”
Wells is an accomplished runner, having completed 23 marathons. In 2017, he ran roughly 50 miles from the southern border of Massachusetts to the Vermont line.
To prepare for the Rick’s Place Run Hundred, he began training in January 2019 and ran between six and eight miles every other day. In the Fall of 2019, Wells ran three marathons, and in January of this year he ran 40 miles as a dry–run for the charity event.
Even with that practice behind him, Wells told Reminder Publishing that he is under-trained. He said that he sacrificed some training in order to stay healthy. Wells said his plan is to run slowly and pace himself.
“I’d rather run slowly on my terms than because the gas tank’s empty,” Wells said.
While this is the first time that Wells has worked with Rick’s Place, he is no stranger to charity runs. In December 2011, Wells ran 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) as a fundraiser for then-7-year-old Celia LaBarbera, a Wilbraham resident with Neurofibromatosis 2.
“There are a lot of great charities out there,” Wells said. “The older I get, the more I realize that I’ve had a good life. Not everyone has.” He added that Rick’s Place has it’s “heart in the right place.” and said the organization’s connection to 9/11 was an important factor in partnering to raise the money.
“For my generation, [9/11 is] our Pearl Harbor, our when JFK got shot. It’s ‘where were you when?’” Wells said.
Rick’s Place is accepting donations of any size, but Wells said, “My hope is that we could get one hundred $100 donations,” totaling $10,000.
To donate to the Run Hundred or to learn more about Rick’s Place, visit https://ricksplacema.org/.