Laurel Memorial Run & Walk
Filling The Gap Inc.

Laurel Memorial Run & Walk was created by Wayne and Elaine Hotelling of Silver Creek, NY, in memory of their oldest daughter, Laurel, who had Down syndrome. The event takes place the third weekend in July. Laurel Run celebrates the achievements of individuals with disabling conditions and raises money for The Resource Center through Filling the Gap to promote disability awareness and prevention activities in Chautauqua County, NY. The event also enhances employment and work training opportunities for adults with disabilities.

You can also download a printable registration here! (coming soon)

About Laurel

Though the first Laurel Run was held in 1997, the event actually had its beginnings in 1963 when Elaine Hotelling gave birth to her and husband Wayne’s first child, a daughter they named Laurel.  Not long after Laurel was born, Wayne and Elaine were stunned to learn their little girl had Down syndrome, a genetic condition that can result in cognitive disabilities.  After the diagnosis, Laurel’s doctor told Wayne and Elaine the best thing they could do for themselves and Laurel would be to place her in an institution and forget about her.  Upon hearing this advice, the Hotellings acted quickly – by finding a new doctor.

Instead of sending Laurel to live in an institution, Wayne and Elaine raised their daughter themselves. They eventually had three other children, and Laurel enjoyed the same opportunities and activities as her siblings. Wayne and Elaine provided a home environment in which Laurel was treated like everyone else – because in every important sense, Laurel was like everyone else. Growing up, Laurel made friends with other kids in her neighborhood. She took piano and dance lessons. She played sports. To the rest of the people in the neighborhood, Laurel Hotelling was simply Laurel – just another resident of the cozy village of Silver Creek, NY. And as an adult, Laurel got a job at The Resource Center’s Dunkirk manufacturing center, where she worked for more than 30 years.

A quote from one of Laurel’s childhood friends describes the Hotellings’ outlook:

“I was fortunate to grow up next door to the Hotellings, and I spent many a childhood day in their home.  It was there that I saw, first hand, how inclusion and integration can virtually eliminate the lines between the disabled and non-disabled.  I can honestly say, there was not one time, in all of the years that I lived next door, that I noticed that Laurel was “different,” and this is clearly a reflection of the way that she was raised.  Laurel participated in all of the same activities that the rest of us, as kids, participated in – she belonged to the Brownie Troop, she took dancing and piano lessons, played the same games; Laurel’s “handicap,” as her sister described it, did not prevent her from experiencing the same childhood pleasures that we all have a tendency to take for granted.  It was Laurel’s upbringing that allowed her to grow into the secure, happy, and beautiful young lady that she is today.”

It is interesting to note that the woman who wrote these words worked for The Resource Center, and several other Silver Creek natives who grew up with Laurel also entered the human service field.  They all credit the Hotellings with being the inspiration for their chosen professions.

The inspiration for Laurel Run

The seeds for Laurel Run were sewn in 1980.  That summer, the Hotelling family was on vacation in Canada when they drove past a young man jogging along the side of the road.  What caught the Hotellings’ attention was that the man had a prosthetic leg.  The Hotellings drove on, and a short while later they came upon a van driven by the jogger’s one-person support team.  They learned that the man was a Canadian named Terry Fox, and that he had lost a leg to cancer several years earlier.  Terry had decided to try to run across Canada to raise $22 million – a dollar for every Canadian citizen – for cancer research.  He called his effort the Marathon of Hope, and for 143 straight days, Terry ran a marathon (26 miles) a day.  He made it two-thirds of the way across Canada before it was discovered that the cancer that had claimed his leg had spread to his lungs, leaving him unable to continue running.  He died 10 months later, but the Marathon of Hope continued and has spread worldwide, raising more than $1 billion for cancer research.

Wayne was so inspired by Terry Fox that he resolved to someday do something similar to raise awareness about people with disabilities.  So after retiring from Silver Creek Central School as a teacher and coach in 1995, Wayne began getting in shape for what he would call Laurel Run.  In August 1997, with a contingent of well-wishers alongside him, Wayne set off from the New York-Pennsylvania line near Lake Erie in a quest to jog across New York State to the Massachusetts border, a distance of some 408 miles.

However, after running 20 miles a day for the first five days, Wayne sustained a leg injury and had to interrupt his journey. Undaunted, Wayne rested long enough for his leg to heal sufficiently for him to ride a bicycle.  He then resumed Laurel Run from the point where he had previously stopped, riding his bicycle most of the way and having Elaine, who accompanied Wayne in the couple’s van, walk up the steeper hills so they could be sure they covered the entire route. The Hotellings finished on time in Columbia County to the cheers of family and friends.

Creating a Legacy

Laurel Run was intended to be a one-time effort.  But just as Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope continued after his death, Laurel Run took on a life of its own.  People the Hotellings encountered during their trek across New York State were inspired by their effort, and NYSARC decided to make Laurel Run the keynote event of its 50^th anniversary celebration in 1999.  That year, Laurel Run passed through every county in New York State, with some 20,000 people taking part.

Since 2001, the Laurel Memorial Run/Walk has been a two-day event in Chautauqua County.  Day 1 consists of a relay run from Jamestown to Dunkirk, while on Day 2 the action shifts to the Hotellings’ hometown of Silver Creek for the main events: an 8-kilometer running race, a 5K running race, a 5K fitness walk, a 1K fun walk, children’s fun runs, and a party in the Village Square. The signature event is Laurel’s Legacy Lap, in which anyone with a disability is invited to take a lap around the track at the village ballfield. Laurel’s Lap gives people with disabling conditions their moment in the spotlight, and onlookers have shed more than a few tears as they cheer people across the finish line.

What has remained a constant feature of the Laurel Memorial Run/Walk, and which continues to grow each year, is the support demonstrated by local businesses and individuals for the Hotellings and the charitable cause they created. Another heartwarming facet of Laurel Run is the sense of ownership exhibited by Laurel and the hundreds of people with disabilities who participate in the event each year.  The Laurel Memorial Run/Walk is THEIR event, and they are extremely proud of that fact.

The Laurel Memorial Run & Walk netted more than $340,000 in its forst 30 years. Proceeds from the event benefit Filling the Gap, Inc., and are directed to the Laurel Run Fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation. Money from the Laurel Run Fund supports The Resource Center’s disability awareness, prevention and early intervention efforts. Money raised through Laurel Run also is used to enhance employment and work training opportunities for adults with disabilities like Laurel, so that they may become productive, contributing members of society and experience the feelings of pride and satisfaction that come from earning real wages for performing meaningful work.

Wayne and Elaine often say that through the experience of raising Laurel, they became better people. The Hotellings have received several accolades for their efforts with Laurel Memorial Run and Walk. Wayne, Elaine and Laurel received the Citizen Advocacy Award from the New York Alliance for Inclusion & Innovation in 2001, and the family has received numerous local honors.  Wayne also has received The Resource Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Laurel was proud to be the Grand Marshal of Laurel Run. Sadly, she passed away in 2017 at the age of 54. But the event that bears her name continues, and we hope you’ll join us this year to remember Laurel and to celebrate the achievements of people with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.

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