Chris Hixon Memorial 5K returns as in-person in 4th year to honor Stoneman Douglas hero
Chris Hixon is remembered as a hero for sacrificing his own life as he tried to disarm the gunman during the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018.
He’s remembered as a fixture in the Broward County Public Schools athletic community for his work as a coach and athletic director at Stoneman Douglas, Blanche Ely and South Broward.
In every year since Hixon’s death, his family has made sure he’s remembered by holding the Chris Hixon Memorial 5K Run/Walk to raise money for the Chris Hixon Athletic Scholarship fund.
This year, his wife is glad everyone can get back to remembering another thing about Hixon. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event to be entirely virtual last year, the Hixon Memorial 5K will have an in-person component once again Saturday, which means they’ll all be able to remember how much he “loved to party.”
“It’s very hard to celebrate someone if you’re not together. It’s different,” said Debbi Hixon, who now serves on the Broward County School Board. “He always loved to have lots of people around and so this is a good way for us to celebrate him.”
Now in its fourth year, the Hixon 5K has already raised more than $100,000 for the scholarship fund started in his honor and this year is poised to be one of the biggest fundraising efforts yet. Jesus Luzardo, who played baseball for the Eagles and now pitches for the Miami Marlins, donated $10,000 to honor his former AD. New sponsors alone should add somewhere between $15,000 to $20,000 more than last year, Hixon said. Attendance should be up, too, with more than 540 participants already registered as of Tuesday and the expectation of somewhere close to 600 by the time walk-ups have registered.
Runners and walkers can participate either in person or virtually, with a $35 registration fee for either 5K and a $15 fee for the 7-and-under kids fun run. The 5K starts at 7 a.m. with the fun run beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The event can actually trace its origins back to the week before the Parkland shooting. Corey Hixon, the Hixon’s son with special needs, had walked in several 5Ks, but Chris Hixon told his son’s trainer he wanted him to start training to run in one. A little while after the tragedy, Pedro Gonzalez, the trainer, suggested the charity 5K to Debbi Hixon. They had already set up the scholarship and Gonzalez, Hixon recalled, said he thought it would be a good way to raise money for it.
Four years later, it’s now an annual fixture in Hollywood, with the run starting and finishing in Charnow Park along the beach.
With this year marking a true return to a celebration of Hixon’s life, it’s fitting to have the date moved back a week or so. Friday would have been Hixon’s 54th birthday, so there will also be a banner to acknowledge it.
Previously, the event typically took place closer to the anniversary of the Feb. 14 shooting, but “we found it to be emotionally difficult to do,” Hixon said. This change keeps it close to the date, while also honoring Hixon in an additional way.
The virtual component is also sticking around to let people from across the country — much of Hixon’s family is in Pennsylvania, for example — be able to donate and run or walk in Hixon’s honor, too.
“We wanted to give them the opportunity to support and participate,” Hixon said, “even though they couldn’t come down in person.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 1:37 PM.
