I Did The Grid
Not just another Road Race
This runner carried a full ruck and the Stars and Stripes — he does so in half marathons too
If you are unsure of the meaning of Memorial Day, or unclear of the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day, then run the CPL Christopher G Scherer Memorial I Did The Grid 5K Road Race (The Grid) on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
The finish area of The Grid is lined with banners honoring local fallen heroes
The Grid is a 5k road race that snakes through the East Northport, Long Island childhood stomping grounds of CPL Scherer, USMC. Chris lost his life on July 21, 2007 in the province of Al Anbar, Iraq. He was felled by a single bullet from the gun of an enemy sniper.
Tim Scherer sharing the meaning of Memorial Day with youth volunteers prior to planting the Field of Flags
I could write a lot about Chris’s brief arc, but I could not do his memory justice. Instead, I’ll point you the website CplChris.com/chris-bio where you can learn about Chris from those who knew him best, his parents, Tim and Janet Scherer.
I’ve known Tim, Janet and family for over 40 years. Janet and my wife Jean were college roommates. We attended Tim and Janet’s wedding; they ours. We celebrated the births of each other’s children, but as our young families grew, we naturally retreated into our own lives.
Planting the Field of Flags
We didn’t see much of each other for several years, but we were never more than a phone call away and stayed in touch. We live the Boston area, they on Long Island, so many of the phone calls between Tim and I revolved around regional sports rivalries (the Jets still suck, Tim).
After Chris lost his life in Iraq, the tone of my calls with Tim changed. Sports were rarely mentioned.
The phone calls gradually became more ‘normal’ as the grieving process evolved (it never goes away). Tim would again call to remind me how his Mets beat my Red Sox in the World Series way back in 1986 (I’ve long forgiven Bill Buckner, but still shudder at the name Mookie Wilson).
The neighborhood support on the course is fantastic
Then, one day in 2008, Tim called to ask me if I would help recruit marathoners to run the Marine Corps Marathon for Team Chris. The answer was of course, “YES,” and I’ve been involved with Team Chris ever since.
Team Chris is the colloquial name for the Cpl Christopher G. Scherer Semper Fi Fund (CCGSSF), founded by the Scherer family to honor the memory of their son with goal to “make one minute of one day better” for those serving in harm’s way. The mission expanded in part to aid combat veterans suffering from PTSD by sponsoring Service Dogs trained by the amazing organization, America’s Vet Dogs.
To date, Team Chris has sponsored 36 service dogs, including Fenway (below) who was named for the Boston contingent of Team Chris.
Fenway is sensitive to loud noises, so serves as an Ambassador for America’s Vet Dogs
If you’ve ever volunteered for, raised money for, or participated in any Team Chris event, you are Team Chris. It is simple enough for an 8 year old to understand. I know that, because when Tim asked a group of youth volunteers last Friday, “What is Team Chris?,” an 8 year old boy raised his hand and proudly shouted, “We are!”
Tim and Janet Scherer at the Gold Star Family ceremony
The Grid is Team Chris’ anchor event. It not only honors the memory of Cpl Chris, but that of all of the fallen. The meaning of Memorial Day permeates every aspect of the race. Each bib carries the names of four service members who were killed in recent conflicts, the names of the fallen from several eras are read in a pre-race ceremony, and local Gold Star families are honored in a post-race ceremony.
Nobody walks away from The Grid thinking only of their holiday weekend barbecue.
"If I Ever Leave This World Alive”
I’m grateful for that 2008 phone call from Tim, and I feel blessed to be part of Team Chris — an organization founded in grief, yet filled with so much life.
I hope you enjoy these images from this year’s I Did the Grid Grid. There are more in the gallery below.
Please check out CplChris.com to read about Cpl Christopher G Scherer and the work of Team Chris, and please consider joining us at next year’s Grid, either in-person or virtually.
