Running event to honor missing Mont. woman

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GRAND FORKS — Sherry Arnold, the Sidney, Mont., woman that authorities said was kidnapped Jan. 7, has inspired a “virtual run” that includes people from around the world.

Her cousin and event organizer, Beth Risdon, of Longmont, Colo., said people could take part wherever they are by printing out a “running bib” from her blog at ShutUpandRun.com, affixing the bib to their shirts and running, walking or riding their bikes at 10 a.m. CST Feb. 11.

“I got the idea for the run because after what happened to Sherry, there was a huge outpouring from the running community,” Risdon stated in an email.

Besides the virtual run, Risdon has set up a fund for Arnold’s two children, a boy and a girl. Donations may be made at any Wells Fargo bank in Arnold’s name and online by PayPal, credit card or electronic check.

Among those running Feb. 11 will be Catherine Arnold, one of Sherry Arnold’s three step-children, who is a second-year medical student at UND.

Catherine Arnold wrote in an email Wednesday that she is inviting others at the university and throughout the area to join in the run, and may organize a local event. “The only thing I can say for certain is that I will be there, running for Sherry,” she wrote. “After all, the very first mile I ever ran was with Sher.”

Arnold, a popular math teacher, had disappeared during an early morning run near her home in Sidney, a town near Williston. Two men from Parachute, Colo., are in jail in Williston accused of her kidnapping. Her body has not been found.

The horror of Arnold’s disappearance needed some response, Risdon said on her blog.

“As mothers, runners and teachers, we fear it could have been us. Our hearts break for her students, her family, her community,” she wrote, describing the day her cousin was last seen alive by family members.

Arnold couldn’t often get in an early morning run before school during the week, Risdon wrote, but Jan. 7 was a Saturday, and Arnold planned to run and then meet her sister Rhonda.

Lee is a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: sherry arnold, grand forks, news, montana, sidney, missing