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Road race to honor mother who lost cancer fight
Joe Baker l The Newport Daily News
May 9, 2012 at 12:01 AM May 9, 2012 at 9:37 AM
Although the weather should be perfect Saturday for the Run for Education 5K road race, it really doesn�t matter. Rain or shine, about 500 supporters are expected to participate in the Newport Public Education Foundation�s eighth fundraising race.
This year�s race is dedicated to the memory of Anne B. Corcoran-Galvin, a dedicated runner who never let adverse weather keep her from her daily jog. The proud mother of three had a term for those who let foul or frigid weather deter them from a run outside.
�She would call them rain wimps,� said Mardie Corcoran, one of Corcoran-Galvin�s six siblings and president of the foundation. �She would come in (from a run) sometimes with frost on her eyelids.�
The Newport Public Education Foundation previously called its annual May fundraiser the Mother�s Day 5K. The nonprofit group has changed the name of the event, moved it from Mother�s Day to the Saturday of that weekend and chose to run it in honor of a specific woman.
Corcoran-Galvin is the first to be honored. A 1975 graduate of Rogers High School, she was the wife of David Galvin and the mother of Michael, Jack and Annie Galvin, all graduates of Rogers High School.
Their mother led her high school cross-country team to the state championship title and ran three Ocean State Marathons after she graduated in 1979 from Boston College, where she was captain of the women�s ice hockey team. She was named to the all ECAC team at a time when women�s sports struggled for recognition.
A strong advocate for women�s athletics, Corcoran-Galvin was an even fiercer proponent of Rogers, where all three of her children excelled in the classroom and in sports.
�Anne was a huge Booster�s Club member at Rogers,� her sister said.
A runner, swimmer, golfer and nonsmoker, Corcoran-Galvin died June 12, 2011 of lung cancer. She was 54.
This year�s race T-shirts, designed by Underwood School fourth-grader Dylan McGrath, feature a bridge and a setting sun. The shirts are periwinkle blue, Corcoran-Galvin�s favorite color.
�She had beautiful blue eyes and would wear blue every day,� Mardie Corcoran said.
The 5K Saturday begins and ends at Rogers High School. Every mother who runs � participants also may walk the course � will receive flowers donated by Water�s Edge florists and chocolates donated by Destination Chocolates. Participants can register up until the 9 a.m. start of the race.
Adult registration is $20 in advance and $25 Saturday. For those 18 and younger, registration is $10 in advance and $15 Saturday. There is a family rate � $50 in advance, $55 Saturday � for two adults and two children.
Participants can register at www.npef-ri.org.
There is a $150 prize for the top male and female finishers.
The Newport Public Education Foundation provides funds for various programs in local public schools. Every year it distributes about $20,000 in grants to teachers and local schools. This past year, it awarded $10,000 to community groups that work with schools to offer programs, and $16,400 to teachers for classroom projects. Some examples:
��A �Garden to Kitchen� program that expanded Underwood School�s gardening program to include gardens outside every classroom.
��A �Closing the Gap in Science� grant provided hands-on materials to support a new program for first-graders at Cranston-Calvert School in solar power, energy and magnetic fields.
��A grant to send 10th-grade biology students learning how DNA can identify individuals through genetic markers to the Holocaust Museum in New York City.
��LEGOs for an after-school program for elementary students at Coggeshall School.
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