Press Release
Nassau Alcohol Crime Drug Abatement Coalition
Submitted by Mary Pitcher
September 19, 2016 5:22 p.m.
Registration is open for the 5th Annual Ben Byrns 5K Runway Rally “Fun Run” to be held October 22nd with the goal to raise funds to help prevent drug and alcohol abuse among our Nassau County youth. The race is the island’s only running event held entirely on the taxiways and runways of the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport. The 5K race starts at 9:00 a.m. with a one-mile fun run for kids and walkers immediately following. (The 5K race is not an official chip- timed race.)
Participants may register online at www.Active.com or may download registration applications at www.NACDAC.org or pick up registration forms at Current Running, 815 South 8th Street, in Fernandina Beach. Register by October 7, to ensure you receive an official BB5K dri-fit race shirt, with cotton t-shirts for the kids.
Winners in the male and female categories for best overall and masters (age 40+) will receive an aerial tour of Amelia Island sponsored by McGill Aviation. There will be a silent auction with lots of fabulous items to bid on, and a challenge for Nassau County Schools with the greatest student participation to earn cash prizes for their school.
Cold Stone Creamery and the Fernandina Food Truck will be on hand to provide refreshments. Music and sound will be provided by “Big-O Productions” and lots of bottled water will be provided by Lowe’s. Senator Aaron Bean will emcee the event, and shirts are provided by P5 Productions.
Nassau Alcohol Crime Drug Abatement Coalition (NACDAC) is presenting this year’s Ben Byrns 5K Runway Rally Fun Run on behalf of the Ben Byrns Foundation. Ben Byrns was a Fernandina Beach resident whose young life was cut short due to an accidental overdose of prescription pain medication. The Ben Byrns Runway Rally was organized in 2012 by family and friends in memory of Ben, a college student who loved the outdoors, surfing, running, sports, and who was studying to become a pilot like his father.
Forty-six people die each day from prescription painkiller overdoses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NACDAC’s mission is to educate, communicate, and be a leader in community collaboration in an effort to eliminate drug, tobacco, and alcohol use among our youth/young adults while at the same time reducing criminal behavior associated with substance abuse. NACDAC works to make a difference in Nassau County Schools daily by providing services such as “Life Skills” training, parenting groups, bullying prevention, support for the Teens For Change Clubs at the middle and high schools, “Know The Law” classes in partnership with the NCSO and FBPD, and provides substance abuse prevention specialists in the schools.
In recent years, NACDAC has been the recipient of the proceeds from the Ben Byrns 5K Runway Rally. The alignment of goals and commitment to educate and guide our local youth to make good choices in their lives has resulted in a unification of efforts of the Ben Byrns Foundation and NACDAC in the presentation of the 5th Annual Ben Byrns 5K Runway Rally to be held at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport on October 22, 2016.
For more information regarding the Ben Byrns 5K Runway Rally Fun Run or to make a donation to NACDAC, please visit www.NACDAC.org.