Runners help raise spirits, money for Norfolk cemeteries

NORFOLK

Heather Keefe admits she was a little "freaked out" when she heard about a 5K run through two city-owned cemeteries in Norfolk.

"The idea of it was kind of weird at first," she said. "I was worried about disrespecting the dead."

On a radiantly sunlit Saturday morning, however, she was one of nearly 100 runners and walkers who covered the course through West Point and Elmwood cemeteries, two of eight historic cemeteries owned and operated by the city.

"It was a gorgeous race and the sun was coming through the trees and it's very romantic," said Keefe, 30, of Norfolk, a defense-industry consultant who's gearing up for the Shamrock Marathon in March in Virginia Beach.

Sponsored by the city and Friends of Norfolk's Historic Cemeteries, a nonprofit group that assists the city's Bureau of Cemeteries, the fundraising event was billed as "From Here to Eternity: A Spirited 5K Run/Walk for Norfolk Cemeteries Preservation."

It was the second year in a row for the event, modeled in part on similar 5K fundraisers for other historic cemeteries nationwide.

Atlanta's "Run Like Hell Annual 5K," to benefit 161-year-old Oakland Cemetery, where "Gone With the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell is buried, was scheduled to start at the same time as Norfolk's event.

"The Graveyard Run 5K" at Kansas City's Elmwood Cemetery, where runners are invited to wear Halloween costumes, is set for next weekend.

"A Run through History 5K," the 10th such event, is planned at New Orleans' Metairie Cemetery next month.

Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery held its "Rest in Peace 5K" early this month.

"Dead Man's Run 5K," through Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., took place earlier this year.

"What it's about is the older cemeteries in North America are having events to raise public awareness of the cemeteries and the value that they have," said Ted Dudley, Norfolk's bureau manager of cemeteries, where hundreds of thousands of people are buried.

The oldest of the sites dates to 1825.

"Cemeteries are where the founding fathers of the localities are buried," said Dudley, who is responsible for the maintenance of more than 350 acres of burial grounds, a budget of more than $2 million and a staff of 35.

While the city cares for the upkeep of the grounds in the cemeteries, memorials on the graves are considered private property.

Money from Saturday's fundraiser will go to the nonprofit group, to help care for monuments and gravestones in the cemeteries.

Friends of Norfolk's Historic Cemeteries began in 1996 as a way to help bridge the gap between what the city could afford to maintain the properties and the actual costs of caring for the grave sites, which include damage from vandalism, a chronic problem.

"We set it up initially to preserve the architectural integrity of our older cemeteries," said Tim Bonney, president of the nonprofit, who began working with the group 17 years ago.

"Attitudes change over time, especially toward death and dying," he said.

In the Victorian era, when many historic cemeteries flourished, death was considered a period of deep sleep preceding a "glorious resurrection," he said.

With meticulously landscaped grounds and elegantly sculpted monuments and markers, cemeteries became relaxed destinations for Sunday picnics with entire families - the forerunner of the contemporary city park.

"It's like an oasis in the middle of the city," Bonney said.

For a little while Saturday morning, it seemed that way for some.

"The Lord gave us a beautiful day, and we just had a grand time," said Anne Addington, 77, of Virginia Beach, after walking across the finish line.

Robert McCabe, (757) 446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com