For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — A 3-mile run/walk event to honor the memory of UW-Marshfield/Wood County Professor Emeritus John Harrington will be held Sept. 23. Registration starts at 7 a.m. in the gymnasium lobby of the UW-Marshfield/Wood County’s Physical Education Building with the run/walk set to follow at 8:30 a.m. After the race, at approximately 9:30 a.m., a dedication ceremony will be held to officially rename the athletic fields the John Harrington Memorial Athletic Fields.

Harrington taught physical education and coached multiple sports at the college from 1968-2013, and he also designed the athletic fields and tennis courts.

Harrington also established a community wellness run in the late 1980s to promote wellness throughout the Marshfield area, the last of which was held in 1992. The 2017 John Harrington Memorial Run/Walk will be a celebration of that run, using the same course he designed more than 25 years ago.

Harrington died Sept. 26, 2016, from prostate cancer. Since September is Prostate Awareness Month, money raised from this event will go to the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation to support prostate cancer research. Family, friends, and past colleagues of Harrington’s have worked together to organize this event, and members from the public are invited to participate. The entry fee is $15.

For more information or to register in advance for the event, send an email to Susan Harrington at sjharrington@charter.net.