The 5th Annual ‘On Your Marc’ 5K in Lower Providence Honored Fallen Heroes and Helped Needy Children

Today, the fifth anniversary of Lower Providence’s ‘On Your Marc’ memorial 5K that was inspired by fallen army hero Marc Small, participants and spectators gathered at 8:30am to honor not only Small, but fallen heroes everywhere who gave their lives as police officers, EMT workers, servicewomen, and more.

The names and photographs of fallen heroes were displayed and some names found their way onto racing bibs that the 5K participants could attach to their shirts.  Names of local military members who had died in action were called out, such as Travis Manion of Doylestown and Ashley Moyer of Emmaus.

“It’s wonderful to have people who we know here to support us.  But it’s wonderful for strangers to come out and honor not only Marc, but all of our fallen heroes,” said Small mother, Mary MacFarland.

Curtis Watro, who was deemed the fastest male runner, won the race overall with a time of 17:51.  The fastest female runner was Crystal Burnick with a time of 18:34.

The idea for On Your Marc had its inception in 2009, the year in which Small, an army special forces staff sergeant and medic, died while serving in Afghanistan.  A few months later Small’s sister Megan MacFarland and their mother Mary MacFarland rallied and started to plan a 5K to honor Small’s sacrifice for his country, and extol his life. 

The mother and daughter approached Lower Providence township, which now co-sponsors the event, with help from the police department and the fire department.

According to Mary MacFarland, today they had about 500 pre-registered participants, which is a record for them, and they expected about 200 more to sign up. 

Beth and John Pierce attended the event to support Small’s memory, and Beth wore the name of her brother, a fallen Vietnam soldier, on her shirt.  They knew him from a time when he was still growing up, and was friends with their children.  John Piece, smiling, spoke about how Small would occasionally eat dinner at their house and then go home to eat his own dinner.  “We hated to see him go home.  He would always help; you didn’t have to ask him twice,” Pierce said.

The proceeds from On Your Marc benefit a foundation titled Small Steps in Speech, which was created in Small’s memory to help young children receive the language and speech therapy that they could not afford on their own.  The foundation was created by Marc’s fiancée Amanda Charney, a speech and language pathologist.