MONTAGUE — A new era began Saturday for the Colors for Hope 5K in support of the Ava Vanderstelt Scholarship. For the first time, the event took on a new name, the Colors for Hope, and took place in Montague, headquartered at the Montague Bandshell. The course utilized the Montague bike trail and also wended its way through the City of Montague, including around Oehrli Elementary School, before returning to the Bandshell.
In the past, the Ava Vanderstelt Scholarship, along with Whitehall and Montague high school hope squads, were the main beneficiaries of the Run White Lake 5K, teaming with White Lake Nutrition. Vanderstelt's mom, Bridget Knapp, said that event is taking a more broad-based mission now; Rob Sorensen of White Lake Nutrition recently launched a nonprofit, the Bridge & Bloom Project, which will benefit from that event, which will take place during the White Lake Maritime Festival, Saturday, Aug. 8.
Knapp, though, wanted to keep the scholarship fund going in her daughter's name, so with several community sponsors, she pushed forward with the new Colors for Hope event. The race drew over 500 sign-ups, with 175 finishers choosing to be timed, and many of them donned their white (at least, until the color dust started flying) Colors for Hope t-shirts.
"We're all about shining our light," Knapp said. "That's what Ava did, is shine her light."
Vanderstelt lost her life to suicide in 2022 and has been remembered since, with the Whitehall and Montague Hope Squads gaining prominence in the intervening years. The Hope Squads are peer-led suicide prevention groups. An annual scholarship in Ava's name awards $1,000 Rose Awards to a student at each of six schools in the area with a Hope Squad, including Whitehall and Montague.
The aura of positivity was palpable during the race, which began as it always has with Knapp leading the group in prayer and the traditional flinging of color dust into the air as many of the participating runners gathered in front of the Bandshell. Despite the loss of her daughter, Knapp always presents a positive face at the race and emphasizes looking for the good in every day on her social media accounts, including her Instagram and TikTok pages, Grief Stricken Kitchen. Knapp said just the week of the race she had two kids get engaged - her son Corbin's engagement was celebrated when fiancee Emma Peterson was presented her race medal - and welcomed a new grandchild.
Knapp's message is not lost on race participants. A sizable group of Lascko Services employees ran the race in honor of a co-worker, Elijah Beasley, who lost his life to suicide in January.
The race results were obviously beside the point, but times were kept for those who wanted to pursue personal bests, and it was 13-year-old Griffin Edman of Joliet, Ill. who earned the top spot overall, with a time of 19:42.6. Fifteen-year-old Ryleigh Alderink of Holton was the second overall finisher and the first female finisher with a time of 19:45.9, and Ryan Khatir, 16, of Muskegon was the third runner to beat 20 minutes, with a time of 19:58.2.
