Morgan Collum, Tibbetts’s cousin, holds an American flag after finishing the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run in Brooklyn, Iowa, on September 30. Collum ran with the flag from Flags 4 Fallen which was decorated with locations and mileage logged under the #MilesforMollie movement. KC McGinnis

Before Sunday morning, Morgan Collum was afraid to run east of her house on 385th Avenue in Brooklyn, Iowa. It had been 74 days since her cousin Mollie Tibbetts had gone out for a run down Collum’s street and never returned, and 40 days since Tibbetts’s body was found in a cornfield outside of town, the victim of random murder.

East was the direction that Tibbetts, a 20-year-old student at the University of Iowa and avid runner, had been headed the night she was abducted. “It’s been heartbreaking knowing this happened so close to my house,” said Collum, 27, also a runner. “I get an unpleasant reminder every morning when I leave for work and every night when I come home from work.”

That fear was shared throughout the small, Iowa community. “Everyone has had an eerie feeling about running out there [on that road],” said Brandie Flathers, 34, a local runner who frequently saw Tibbetts out running. What happened to Tibbetts “not only took a beautiful person away from our community,” Flathers said, “it took away our sense of security in beautiful small town that felt safe and where you trusted everyone.”

That changed this past Sunday, September 30, at 9 a.m. when Collum, Flathers, and an estimated 500 other runners and walkers—more than a third of Brooklyn’s total population—reclaimed that eastern stretch of 385th known as “the blacktop” with a 5-mile run in Tibbetts’s honor.

Runners begin the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run in Brooklyn, Iowa, on September 30 along one of Tibbetts’s favorite running routes. KC McGinnis

A woman wears a button in honor of Mollie Tibbetts. An estimated 500 runners and walkers from at least seven states attended the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run. KC McGinnis

Runners pass a house during the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run in Brooklyn, Iowa. The route followed a popular running path for Brooklyn runners, which includes the area where Tibbetts went missing in July. KC McGinnis

It was not a race—there were no times kept, medals given, or winners celebrated. The event, organized by Flathers, was about honoring and remembering Tibbetts, a well-known and well-loved fixture in the tight-knit town who touched many in life—and thousands more in death through the #MilesforMollie movement.

“Coming together as a community is our way of saying you can’t keep us down.”

Not only was the event held to remember Mollie, “the run was for overcoming fear and coming together as a community,” Collum said.

The out-and-back route started at Brooklyn, Guernsey and Malcolm High School (BGM), where Tibbetts ran track and cross country, then charted through town for about half a mile before heading east onto the blacktop for two hilly miles, passing corn and bean fields and idyllic farmland vistas that stretch as far as the eye can see. “It’s beautiful and peaceful and was one of Mollie’s favorite places to run,” said Collum of the blacktop.

Because Tibbetts didn’t believe in paying to run, the event was free. Donations, however, were accepted and went towards the child psychology division at the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital in honor of Tibbetts, who had aspired to be a child psychologist. As of Monday, more than $8,500 in donations had been collected, said Flathers, adding to the more than $20,000 collected from previous fundraisers.

“Coming together as a community is our way of saying you can’t keep us down,” Collum said. “We’re hurt, but we’re stronger together.”

Such was the collective sentiment in the lead up to the event as various members of the community did their part to put it on.

On Friday, as a cold rain fell, one local organization hung flags on the edge of town to welcome out-of-town runners, who came from across Iowa as well as from Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to participate. One anonymous donor funded the installation of street lights on the blacktop to better illuminate the path, and one person placed small mason jars filled with tea lights and teal marbles—Tibbetts’s favorite color—along the route.

The morning of, volunteers arrived at 6:45 a.m. to set up. Local businesses joined the cause, donating granola bars, bananas, and lunch for the participants. The fire station provided water and parked a truck at the end of the blacktop so that runners knew where to turn around.

Friends and family of Tibbetts laminated signs with teal coloring and motivational quotes that represented her contagious optimism—like, “When you feel like quitting, think about why you started” and “Be the change you wish to see in the world”—and lined them along the route. Others hung teal balloons on telephone poles, a fence, and a mailbox on the blacktop. A local church congregation set up a water station in town, and Sunday school children created signs to cheer the runners.

Regan Clayton (left) and Emma Alexander (right) carry an American flag during the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run in Brooklyn, Iowa, on September 30. Alexander ran with Tibbetts at Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom High School and carried the flag for Flags 4 Fallen, a volunteer group that recruits runners to carry flags in honor of families who have lost loved ones. KC McGinnis

Morgan Collum shows off her shoes which she decorated in honor of Mollie Tibbetts. She also wore Harry Potter-themed socks which she and Mollie loved. KC McGinnis

Then, during the event itself, Tibbetts was honored in many other ways big and small. Hundreds of participants and spectators—ranging in age from elementary school children to grandparents—wore custom Mollie Tibbetts memorial T-shirts. Collum ran with gray Harry Potter-themed crew socks (because “Mollie loved Harry Potter and I love Harry Potter too”), and gray and black Adidas decorated with teal ribbons and magenta inscriptions reading #MilesforMollie and Matthew 17:20, a Bible verse Collum read at a vigil following Tibbetts’s disappearance.

“She would want us to rise above our fear and reclaim what is ours—a love of running and a love of life.”

Collum and one of Tibbetts’s cross-country teammates ran the entire route carrying American flags donated by the organization Flags 4 Fallen. The flags were decorated with locations and mileage logged under the #MilesforMollie movement. Once the flag bearers crossed the finish line, the local chapter of the American Legion folded the flags and presented them to Laura Calderwood, Tibbetts’s mother who walked the course with a group of family members (Tibbetts’s younger brother, Scott, ran the course.)

Courtesy of Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation

T-shirts for the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run line a table before the run. The event raised $8,500 for the child psychology division at the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital. KC McGinnis

Volunteers cheer for runners during the Mollie Tibbetts Memorial Run in Brooklyn, Iowa. KC McGinnis

Sharing memories of Mollie—as both a person and a runner—was a common theme before and after the race.

“Mollie was such an amazing person,” Collum said. “You squeezed her and happiness came out. You wanted to be around her, you wanted to be her friend, she made you feel very safe and happy. She was funny. I don’t want people to get lost in everything else that they forget that.”

Tibbetts’s older brother, Jake Tibbetts, spoke to the crowd before the race, encouraging runners to take a positive, lighthearted mindset. “Enjoy it,” he said. “Just run or walk and have fun.”

For many, the run was not a somber event. “People were there in celebration rather than mourning,” said Jerod Burns, 40, Tibbetts’s high school science teacher, who participated in the event. “It was a really neat atmosphere, especially at the start. We were gathering around and talking and reminiscing about Mollie. The mood was really light.”

That probably stemmed from Tibbetts’s uplifting spirit, which touched so many in her life, from teachers to classmates to friends.

“As an athlete, Mollie was one of those kids you like to build team around,” said Shane Wilson, Tibbetts’s fourth grade teacher, high school track coach, and youth group leader, who participated in the run. “She was such a great leader and always encouraged others, whether they were the best athlete or kids who may never get a medal as a runner.”

Wilson, 46, remembered Tibbetts finishing long runs in practice and then immediately doubling back to accompany the last runner on the course. “That was not coached,” said Wilson. “That was Mollie.”

Autumn Fye, 17, a senior at BGM and close friend of Tibbetts, recalled that infectious friendliness. Faye moved to Brooklyn in eighth grade and met Tibbetts on the first day of cross-country practice. “I was nervous and shy, and she was really open and started a conversation with me,” remembered Fye, who handed out water and cheered runners on Sunday. “She made me feel welcome.”

Tibbetts was also known to high-five everyone at cross-country meets—even the opposing team, Wilson said. One of Tibbetts’s favorite quotes was “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice your gift” by American running legend Steve Prefontaine. “That’s what this run is about,” Wilson said. “She would want us to rise above our fear and reclaim what is ours—a love of running and a love of life.”

After finishing the run, Jamie Edelen, a local runner, said Sunday’s event helped her do just that.

Before Tibbetts was abducted, Edelen, 34, frequently ran by herself in Brooklyn. Ever since, she’s been running instead in Grinnell, a town about 15 miles west—and always with a group. The event on Sunday marked the first time she had run in Brooklyn since Tibbetts was abducted—and it’s something she’ll now continue.

Though she’ll take more precautions, like telling others where she’s running and when, “I will go back to running in Brooklyn,” Edelen said. “Today was huge for a lot of people that way.”

“I remembered why I was doing this today. I was doing what Mollie wasn’t able to finish.”

By Sunday evening, Collum was exhausted—not just from running with a flag in hand for five hilly miles, but from the emotional weight of the entire day. “I felt an array of emotions,” Collum said—from sadness to joy to strength—and recalled an especially difficult moment of the run as she traveled east on the blacktop.

“The further out I got, I couldn’t help but think about how Mollie was alone,” Collum said. “I tried to stay in positive thoughts but it was hard.” When she reached the halfway mark, she stopped “for a while” and just cried. “I was overtaken with emotion just thinking where I had just run might have been the last steps that she took,” Collum said.

After taking time to collect herself, Collum pressed on. “I remembered why I was doing this today,” she said. “I was doing what Mollie wasn’t able to finish.”

And that’s her message for others: Keep going. “Mollie wouldn’t want me or anyone to give up on running—or something else they enjoy—because they are scared,” she said.

Jenny McCoy Contributing Writer Jenny is a Boulder, Colorado-based health and fitness journalist.

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