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By Kathy Sparrow

As OBSE (Outer Banks Sporting Events) gears up for a 2022 race year, we wanted to take a moment to look back at 2021 events. Besides being in the middle of a pandemic that shut everything down (except running virtual races) in 2020 and didn’t look that promising for 2021, the weather for the fall 2021 race turned out to be the real challenge. The weatherman called for winds of up to 60 mph; heavy rain; and storm surge all along the Outer Banks. In spite of all that, OBSE managed to put the Saturday 5K and the Fun Run on with the help of a lot of volunteers, sponsors, kids and a skeleton crew of dedicated workers.

One organization that particularly helped was Surf Pediatric Foundation. This local 501(c)3, whose mission is to foster the promotion of health and well-being for pediatric children, really stepped up.  Initially, they signed up to sponsor both races and were prepared to offer an Outer Banks school, class or school organization who put together the largest group of walkers/runners that included kids, teachers, anyone in the school, for the Saturday 5K race a $500 incentive to be used by the school or organization to help with some program they needed to fund.  And so, the 5K had eight school groups sign up to race – despite the crazy OB weather.

Instead, Surf Pediatric Foundation awarded $500 to each and every group that ran, including: First Flight Middle School Avid Program lead by Theresa Wingenroth; Kitty Hawk Elementary School kindergarten class lead by Barbara Davidson and Linda Jernigan; Nags Head Elementary School group lead by Sharon Glasser; First Flight High School golfers; First Flight High School wrestling team; Manteo Elementary School 5K runners lead by Mr. Curtis; and Manteo High School counselors lead by Sarah Parcell. They each received a check for $500 to help fund something they needed. Linda Jernigan’s class bought a lot of Legos for creative play and building skills for the kids in their charge.  What a great win-win for these educational organizations.

Surf Pediatric Foundation was established in 2010 by Dr. Christian Lige and his wife, Joy Lige. The impetus for the foundation was to develop a platform to promote the health and well-being of children in the local Outer Banks community. One of the core missions is to organize and promote events/activities that encourage and promote health. So connecting with OBSE was a win-win-win for the annual event, Surf Pediatric and all the people who ran for a great cause, one they plan to do again in fall 2022 only with better weather.

OBSE was started in 2005 by Mike Kelly with the idea to provide the community with a new event that would bring the county together, be healthy, be a partnership for non-profits and businesses and bring visitors to the Outer Banks in November. OBSE’s mission still is to organize sporting events and competitions, promote healthy living lifestyles and provide financial resources for needed relief and education, all while contributing to the economic health of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While covid forced events to go virtual in 2020 and 2021 was a bit of a mixed weather and covid wash out, 2022 promises to put the four scheduled events and the spirit of the races back on track. As an organization, they are able to bring together several non-profit organizations to help promote a healthy Outer Banks lifestyle for all who live here. For more information on events or on how you can help, go to obxse.com or call 252-255-6253.

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