Run4Kerri, Matunuck Beach Road, Wakefield, Aug. 6
Here's a race that always has good, quality competition and is for a great cause. Race director Scott Bessette and his family created this race in memory of their daughter/sister Kerri Lynn Bessette, who passed away in April of 2001 from complications resulting from bacterial meningitis. Kerri, a dedicated runner, was a freshman at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. She also was a student/athlete at South Kingstown. The four-miler has donated yearly to a memorial scholarship for a senior female T&F athlete at SK. It also has sponsored the Narragansett Youth Track Series and has established a school library giving program where it stocks a particular school yearly with developmental and age-appropriate content. The competition is always fierce, too. In the past, it wasn't uncommon to see several under 20 minutes in the men's competition and an equally-strong women's field.