Run to honor students killed by drunken driver

Funds raised from the event will provide scholarship awards at Hiram.

HIRAM — Two Hiram College students killed by a drunken driver 18 months ago will be honored and remembered with the Run for Grace and Andy on the Hiram campus Sept. 29.

The inaugural Run for Grace and Andy will be staged on the town’s three-mile square to celebrate the lives of Grace Chamberlain and Andy Hopkins, who died in March 2006 after their vehicle was struck by a drunken driver with 11 previous DUI convictions.

Hopkins lived in Trumbull County.

The college, where Hopkins and Chamberlain were first-year students, also will put on a one-mile fun walk in Hiram Village that will not be timed. The walk will begin after the 8:30 a.m. race start.

Proceeds will go into the Fund for Grace and Andy and will be used to fund the college’s Andrew Hopkins Music Award and the Grace J. Chamberlain Prize in Creative Writing.

Hiram also sponsors the Chamberlain-Hopkins Symposium on Alcohol and Culture, with the second symposium now being planned for the spring of 2008.

The goal of the symposium and the run are to raise community awareness — in different ways — concerning alcohol’s influence in our culture.

Celebrating life

“We do want the run to be a joy for participants,” said Grace’s father, Bob Chamberlain, who has been among Chamberlain and Hopkins family members helping to plan the event. “Grace and Andy loved Hiram because it was so full of life. That’s what we want from this event — a celebration of life.”

Each entrant in 12 age categories will receive a T-shirt and refreshments. Awards will be given to the best overall male and female runners and to the top two finishers in each age category.

Entry fees are $15 per person for early registration and $20 on race day. Details about pre-race registration can be found at www.Hermescleveland.com. Registration will begin on race day at 7 a.m. at the Coleman Sports, Fitness and Recreation Center on the Hiram campus. Group and family discounts also are offered.

Hiram students representing residence halls and campus groups, including ID3 (I Don’t Drink and Drive) are expected to participate.

ID3 was formed by a group of Hiram students, including Evan DaSilva of Rhode Island, another Hiram student who was seriously injured in the accident that claimed the lives of Grace, 18, of Kirtland, and Andy, 18, of Champion.

James D. Cline, 48, of Burton, the driver of the other car, was fleeing police at the time of the crash in Geauga County. He pleaded guilty in the case and is serving a 38-year prison sentence.