HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- A shrine of hundreds of running shoes, creating a tree-like structure, still sits near the corner of Hickory Hill Road and East Patrick Henry Road in Hanover County.
On Jan. 13, 2014, Meg Cross Menzies was running at that very spot when she was hit and killed by a drunk driver. She was in the process of training for the Boston Marathon.
The mark Menzies' passing made in the running world is still visible near and far nearly a decade later.
A movement, called "Meg's Miles" that her friends started on Facebook shortly after as a way to plan runs in remembrance of her, spread her story overseas.
“Over 100,000 people ran all over the world, from places like China, and Germany, and then all over the country," said Pamela Cross, Meg's mother. “People didn’t know her, but yet they flew from California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania and New England area and Arizona, to come and run for a lady they did not know. But God filled them and used that story to bring a group of people together. Now we all consider each other family. We’re not just friends on Facebook. We’re actually family."
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MegsMiles 5k honors Hanover mother remembered as 'great encourager'
A charity in her honor continues to raise money for track and field teams at several Hanover County high schools and a women's Christian group.
Faith, Cross said, is what's fueled thousands of people to lace up their running shoes.
“It’s really about God’s grace and God’s purpose that He would not let a tragedy without bringing glory out of the ashes and beauty out of the ashes, and I really truly believe that if God had not wanted it to continue, within three or four months it would’ve stopped. But it didn’t. It just kept going and it just built and built," Cross said.
FULL INTERVIEW: Meg Menzies was 'great encourager,' her mother remembers
Her message to runners, cyclists, and drivers in Hanover County and beyond, is to never drive drunk or distracted.
“Remember that we share the road with a lot of different people," Cross said.
An annual race in Menzies' honor, Meg's Miles 5K, will be held Jan. 13 in Mechanicsville.
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