Carl Schilling was a runner at Pleasant Valley High School in 1994. He participated in cross country, track and was heavily involved in the community. Carl passed away at the age of fifteen due to a car-pedestrian accident. His parents established the Run with Carl in honor of his memory.
Run with Carl first began in 1995 as the Carl D. Schilling Memorial Fund. While the Schilling family is no longer in charge of the event, they still award the Carl D. Schilling Memorial Scholarship to students from both Bettendorf High School and Pleasant Valley High School.
In order to qualify for this scholarship, a student must have a minimum of a 2.3 grade point average and participate in extracurricular activities. The recipient will receive $4,000 in scholarships over a four year time period.
Run with Carl takes place September 4th of Labor Day weekend. The race is held at the Life Fitness Center in Bettendorf. It begins with a memorial service at 8:00 a.m. with the 5k mile run and walk proceeding afterward.
“I’ve been running this event since I was six,” senior Sydney Prochaska said. “This race is a great way to honor Carl and get the community together.” Sydney is a part of the Pleasant Valley High School cross country team. She said, “The cross country team runs this race together.”
Pleasant Valley Cross Country coach Jane Wheeler said, “The cross country team does this race as a workout at a tempo pace. The girls cross country team did end up taking the top three spots.” Sydney Lear was the first female winner along with Mallory Lafever placing 2nd and Abigail Riley 3rd. Wheeler said, “Running this race has been a tradition since I’ve started coaching. Run with Carl is a cool event because it honors Carl Schilling.”
Sydney Lear is making her cross country debut this 2017 season. She already looks like a stand out as she took the top female place in the race. Lear said, “The race went really well! We had Spartan Challenge on the Saturday before so it was nice to come together again to do a tempo workout in such a cool atmosphere.”
Run with Carl is a Labor Day tradition that has been around for twenty-two years and will continue to go on for years. This race brings both school communities and cross country team together to recognize and commemorate Carl Schilling.
