FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Runners met at the Veterans Memorial Park in Fayetteville to complete Eliza Fletcher's run on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Police say Eliza Fletcher, a teacher who went out for her morning run, was kidnapped around 4 a.m. near the University of Memphis on Sept. 2, 2022. Her body was found near a vacant home in south Memphis just three days later.
From this tragedy, running groups nationwide are meeting to finish her run including the group in Fayetteville. Ashley Meek and Brittany Green organized the run Sunday.
"For us personally, being female runners, we have this lack of peace and you know, when you go on the trail, like we all constantly have to be on alert," said Green. "We can't just go out and zone out. We always have to be aware of our surroundings at all times."
Kirsten Patterson attended the event saying she was there to celebrate her run and to do something runners love doing together
"She enjoyed running, she loved running, many of us love running," said Patterson. "It's a fear and it's a threat we take when we come out and run in the dark. But it's also something we love to do."
Organizers said that this event would help finish Eliza's run as well as create future runs for attendees forming new groups.
"I think our community is just it's so big and so supportive, that I think anybody that has something going on, they just share it on social media and people just reshare," said Green. "They're like, hey, this is a great thing. Let's all get together and run together."
"I feel that it's kind of important that we get out here and we do something we love and something that brings us joy," said Patterson. "In a world where there's a whole bunch of evil, it can easily overtake us with fear."
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