Little Flower School holds annual Patriot Day run

Sept. 11, 2001 affected the entire nation and each year the St. Mary’s County remembers the terrorist attacks that changed everything.

And one of those remembrances will be the Little Flower School’s ninth annual Patriot Day 5K, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 7, in Great Mills.

“I think it’s great and really important that the community come together to remember 9/11,” said Emily Funderburk, who is organizing this year’s race, “and this is a great way to do that.”

The event serves to honor those who died on 9/11 along with local “patriots” such as military, firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians.

“The concept of that is really cool to me,” St. Mary’s Volunteer EMS Chief Shawn Davidson said. “I think it’s important, especially for kids because they weren’t alive when that happened. To them, it’s history, and the rest of us lived through it ... so being able to connect them through our lived history is an important thing to do. I think it’s a really cool concept.”

Before the race, a Patriot Organization of the Year and individual Patriot of the Year will be recognized during the opening ceremony, which gets underway at 8 a.m.

The winning organization, which is voted on by race participants, receives 15% of the event proceeds.

While registering for the race, competitors can vote for their favorite organization from a list of 17 local fire departments, rescue squads, military organizations and police departments.

The individual Patriot of the Year, which is selected by Little Flower School middle school students, will receive 10% of the proceeds which will then be donated to the charity of their choice.

Last year’s posthumous winner was St. Mary’s County firefighter Brice Trossbach, who was killed in 2023 while fighting a residential fire in Leonardtown. The 2022 winner was local pageant winner Rachel LaBatt.

A kids fun run for ages 10 and younger will take place at 8:15 a.m. while older competitors will start at 8:30 a.m. and can run or walk the 5K course, which begins at the school in Great Mills at and follows a route along Point Lookout Road.

“It’s good exercise, it’s a way to commemorate 911 and you can run or walk,” said Funderburk, who took part in last year’s race. “It’s exciting to get to run along a road and people cheering you on, and [the proceeds] go to a good cause. It was not a personal record for me [last year], but it was fun and it’s good to get out in the fresh air and it’s good exercise.”

Participants are invited to wear red, white and blue and patriotic outfits for a costume contest with a prize.

Strollers are welcome and a virtual race option is available. There will also be music by DJ Bobby Rowand, games, food, vendors and more.

A pre-race pasta dinner will be held 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, at Ledo Pizza in Leonardtown, where competitors can pick up their race packets. Participants can also register 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. on race day at the school.

There will also be raffles for prizes by local businesses, including tickets for the Florida State at Notre Dame college football game Nov. 9 in Indiana.

“If you’re looking for a way to celebrate the community and honor some of those people who are helping us every day with their time and efforts — police, firefighters, EMTs [this is a good way to do that],” Funderburk said. “They’re all out there putting their lives on the line for us, so it’s just a great way to give back to them.”

For more information on the Patriot Day 5K, call 301-994-0404 or go to patriotday5k.org. To purchase raffle tickets — winners need not be present to win — go to littleflowercatholic.org/football-ticket-raffle.