At 4:20 a.m. on Friday morning, hundreds of runners and walkers gathered in front of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to embark upon the fourth annual Eliza Fletcher Memorial Run.
After the former organizer of the event moved away from Memphis, this run was put together at the last minute this year, but that did not hurt the attendance at all, as Fletcher’s death struck a chord with the running community and Memphis community on the whole.
“This run brings awareness that many women do not feel safe while running alone,” said Emma Dixon, a local high school cross country and track coach who participated in the event.
Participants traversed the 8.2 mile route down Central Avenue that Fletcher was running early in the morning before she got kidnapped and tragically murdered by Cleotha Abston in August of 2022. The runners and walkers wore bright lights, brought signs with mantras such as “Finish Liza’s Run” and placed candles at the footstep of the church in remembrance of Fletcher.
Tributes such as this have poured in in the four years since her death, and the mark she made in the city has helped create better opportunities and awareness for women.
Look no further than the University of Memphis Park Avenue Campus, where an outdated soccer stadium has recently been razed to make the Liza Wellford Fletcher Stadium, which will house the women’s soccer program she was a part of. That same soccer program, despite having a trailer as a locker room, has consistently been the most successful on campus in recent years.
“(Fletcher) just put her head down and worked her tail off. And people followed her. And that's what it takes to win championships," Memphis women's soccer head coach Brooks Monaghan said at the announcement of the stadium last year. "Even though she wasn't wearing a captain's band, she kind of led the charge with just what it takes to win.”
HyperFocus, one of the largest Memphis running groups, was started by Josh Clark in response to the tragedy and had many members participating on Friday morning.
“We’ve had tragedies in this city, and Fletcher’s led to Josh wanting people to not run alone,” Griffin Watts, a member of the group said.
Fletcher’s impact on the city and on the University of Memphis has been evident over the past three years. For that reason, hundreds gathered yet again to finish her run.
