ROANOKE, Va. – A group of local runners is paying tribute to Eliza Fletcher, the Tennessee woman who was kidnapped while jogging and later killed.
On Friday, the runners gathered together to finish the run she started.
Hundreds of people across the country took part in the virtual run, including RunAbout Sports in Roanoke – they met at Chris’s Coffee and Custard for a three or 10-mile run.
RunAbout Sports Roanoke Co-owner Ali Bowersock said that runners do everything in their power to keep themselves safe by wearing reflective gear, carrying pepper spray, and even taking self-defense classes.
Now it’s up to the community to do their part.
“It’s everyone’s job to make sure that we are supported and we are safe. And it’s unfair that such an exemplary person doing something that we all do every day, her life was ended short because of that. And it could have been any of us,” said Bowersock.
There is another group run scheduled for Saturday at 7 a.m. at Reserve Avenue.
If you feel safer running in a group, RunAbout Sports meets at 8:30 a.m. every Friday for a group run.