Every Memorial Day morning for the past decade, runners, walkers and supporters have flooded into downtown Franklin ready to race.
The group has been made up of children, older adults and everyone in between. Some are blazing-fast athletes, while others leisurely stroll the course. Red, white and blue outfits dominate the day.
Regardless of how they’ll complete the annual Memorial Day Mile, everyone comes together for a common — to honor, as a community, those who have served the country.
“When people come out to pick up their shirts, or come up to us after the race, who have a connection to that service, you can tell how much they appreciate just a little pause in the year to be able to reflect on that, to think about the people we’ve lost who served for our freedom,” said Chad McCullough, founder of the Memorial Day Mile. “
The Memorial Day Mile celebrates its 10th year on May 27, with more than 1,000 participants expected to complete the mile-long course. What started as an effort to get more people involved in Franklin’s Memorial Day service has grown to become a meaningful and moving community tradition.
“It’s such a fun community event. The fact that it’s just a mile, there are so many kids who do it and they can get as competitive as they want to. It’s a little more different than a 5K, a mile is a lot more accessible to people,” said Kellie Schmidt of Whiteland, who has run each year with her sons. “It emphasizes that sense of community.”
The Memorial Day Mile is a nonprofit organization founded in 2015, when organizers envisioned a family-friendly event to serve as a lead-in for the annual Memorial Day service on the courthouse lawn. With fewer and fewer people taking part in the service, the goal was to get people — particularly families and children — more involved, McCullough said.
“Almost everybody can do one mile, whether it’s running or walking. So it takes away the intimidation of a competitive road race. It takes away the requirements to prepare. Everybody is off work, and I think deep down, everyone realizes Memorial Day is an important holiday, but sometimes people struggle with how to recognize it,” McCullough said. “It’s a good way for people to come together, spend some time recognizing it, and then go have a picnic with the family or spend time at the pool.”
That first year, 296 people finished the race. The result was encouraging, but organizers never envisioned what it would become.
“It’s great to see that it has become a tradition for so many people in Johnson County. When we started it, I don’t think we planned on it being that kind of tradition,” McCullough said. “That first year, a lot of it was around a competitive one-mile race, and it’s really turned into something for four generations of families coming out.”
The event had steadily grown over the first five years, with 1,063 runners and walkers taking part in 2019, more finishers than any other mile race in Indiana and the ninth largest in the United States.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to cancel the Memorial Day Mile in 2020, but it returned as strong as ever the following year. In 2023, 1,047 people completed the course.
Impressively, there are 27 people who have finished each Memorial Day Mile.
David Powell is one of those runners and he comes from a distance to take part. The Louisville resident was looking for a races for his son, who was 7 years old at the time and just started running cross country.
He came across information for the Memorial Day Mile, and as a military veteran, he was intrigued.
“I’m a veteran also, so I thought it was really special that it was on Memorial Day Mile, and they started it to get more people at the Memorial Day service,” he said.
The Powell family has come back every year since. They’re excited that in honor of the 10th year, organizers have brought back the original design for the race t-shirt.
“Obviously, I have all of the shirts. What we do is, each year, I wear the shirt from the year before, so I’ve always added a different shirt,” Powell said. “The race has meant a lot to us.”
When Jeff Powers learned about the Memorial Day Mile, he immediately wanted to be part of it. The Franklin Community High School graduate is an accomplished runner, having helped Franklin claim the 2001 state cross country title, running in college and qualifying for the Olympic trials.
“Being an avid runner, I thought it seemed pretty cool to do a mile-long race,” said Powers, the current cross country coach at Franklin. “Just seeing how many people were interested in this was amazing.”
He ended up winning the race in 2016, and again in 2018. Where he started out aiming to win the competitive race, now Powers is content to run the race with his son — happy to be part of an event that has touched so many people.
“I’m just really proud of Chad and the race he’s put on. It’s inspiring to see so many people in Franklin come out on a Monday morning and do this race. It’s cool to see so many people involved in it,” he said.
Schmidt has also taken part in the Memorial Day Mile each year and has seen her sons grow up around the event over the past 10 years.
“Now that I have three sons, they’re at the age where they’re competing with each other, which adds to the fun of the day,” she said. “It’s a great thing to do on Memorial Day weekend.”
IF YOU GO
Memorial Day Mile
What: A 1-mile race to help people observe Memorial Day, as well as participate in the annual memorial service in downtown Franklin.
When: 9 a.m. May 27; shirt and bib pick-up 1-5 p.m. May 26 and between 7:15-8:30 a.m. race day
Where: DriveHubler.com Amphitheater at Youngs Creek Park, 161 W. Monroe St., Franklin
Schedule:
8:55 a.m.: National Anthem and honorary start
9 a.m.: Female competitive mile (must be able to run under 10 minutes for one mile)
9:20 a.m.: Male competitive mile (must be able to run under 10 minutes for one mile)
9:40 a.m.: Family walk/jog/run
10:15 a.m.: Awards
11 a.m.: Memorial Day service on the Johnson County Courthouse lawn
Cost: $12 for adults, $6 for children 18 and under.
How to register: runsignup.com/Race/IN/Franklin/AnnualMemorialDayMile
