Community remembers two Lexington Catholic High runners through 5k event
Nearly 900 runners and walkers participated in the inaugural Dom and Dave Memorial 5K. The show of support meant a lot to parents.
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- In May of last year, two Lexington Catholic High School runners were killed in a tragic car accident.
“When one of us hurts, we all hurt,” said family friend Debbie Van Leeuwen. “And so now we’re all celebrating together. And so, yeah, it’s a good day.”
On Sunday, the lives of Dominic Bilotta and David Cervoni were remembered through an inaugural 5K marathon. Their families, friends, and teammates came to Coldstream Park for the event.
“It means the world to us,” said Craig Bilotta, Dominic’s dad. “It’s just amazing to see. This community is a special place and these people are so special and just the outpouring of love and support is all you could ask for. It’s just such a great community.”
The Bilotta’s say their son was dedicated to his cross-country team and they couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the boys’ legacies than with a marathon.
“I dont think he ever missed a practice for cross country,” Craig said. “He was early to go, he was one of the first ones to get there and one of the last ones to leave. And he was just such a hard worker. And if he could see this, he’d love it.”
Nearly 900 runners and walkers participated in the inaugural Dom and Dave Memorial 5K. The show of support meant a lot to parents.
“Seeing the sea of blue and all the kids and the school community, the Lexington community,” said Erica Bilotta, Dominic’s mother. “When this was just an idea, just a little seed of an idea, we thought maybe 200. As of this morning, we had 895 participants. So it got bigger than we ever imagined.”
The boy’s lives will continue to be remembered. Money raised from the 5K will help both family’s efforts in setting up a scholarship fund in their memories.
“We started off small, thinking a few thousand dollars,” Erica Bilotta said. “Between sponsors, donors, we’re looking at over $30,000 dollars that we raised. So this might be an ongoing that we could do every year.”
If you’re interested in donating to the scholarship fund, click here.
