Sixteen-year-old Cameron Gallagher of Richmond, Va. crossed the finish line on Virginia Beach’s boardwalk Sunday to complete her first half-marathon, hugged the best friend who had run alongside her, and collapsed. She died shortly thereafter.
Cameron’s father said his daughter’s heart stopped beating and did not restart despite the efforts of staff at a nearby hospital. A cause of death has not yet been released.
For the Gallaghers, “Running was a great way for our family to do something together,” her father, David Gallagher said Tuesday.
When David Gallagher ran his first marathon in the late 1990s, he promised a friend and training partner he would introduce someone new to the sport. Six years ago, he helped train his wife, Grace, for her first marathon. They continued to pass running on to the second of their five children, Cameron, a 16-year-old who had been a former competitive swimmer.
The Gallaghers had run Richmond’s popular Monument Avenue 10K, one of the largest 10-kilometer races in the country, and the Jingle Bell 5k. As parents, David and Grace also repeatedly told their children to pursue goals that are difficult.
Enter the Virginia Beach Anthem Half-Marathon, the longest distance Cameron, a sophomore at Douglas Freeman High School in Henrico County, Va., had run.
Along the way, Cameron’s parents would offer advice on breathing through their nose or shortening their steps. The girls would want to run where they thought cute boys might run by.
Soon, the work paid off. The first time Cameron ran six miles, “you could begin to see a confidence,” her father said. Then she ran eight miles, then 10. “She figured out how to enjoy it,” he said.
On race day, Cameron and Abby were already dressed in their shamrock green race gear when the Gallaghers came to wake them up at 5:15 a.m.
“They were literally jumping for joy,” David Gallagher said.
After the start, the Gallaghers positioned themselves around the third mile-marker to cheer for the girls. When David spotted Cameron, she wore an ear-to-ear grin, he said.
“It was the happiest I’ve ever seen her,” he said. As she ran by, she told her father she was enamored by the crowd, “'Oh my gosh the people are so wonderful. I love them all,’” he recalled her saying.
When he picked them out again at mile 10, the distance had taken a toll. They were tired. On a cell phone outside of a cemetery, Wednesday morning, David Gallagher said that moment is the one he keeps thinking about, the moment he keeps wondering if he missed something, but he also knows nearly every runner looks tired by the 10th mile.
The girls persevered. About two miles later, Cameron’s legs bothered her. After briefly stretching, Cameron looked at Abby and said “Let’s finish this.”
Their time was 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Cameron Gallagher saw the humor in everything and took almost nothing seriously, a fact that made her training for the half-marathon more impressive, her father said. She loved country songs, especially by Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Her bedroom walls were full of quotes about freedom, Bible verses, and most of all, inspiration.
“That’s what she lived for is different moments of inspiration,” David Gallagher said.
That’s also what her family hopes her legacy will be, her father said.
Soon a broad group of friends, including Cameron’s older brother, Abby, and some of the hundreds who have stopped by the Gallaghers’ Richmond-area home early in the week, will continue to bring one of Cameron’s ideas to life, raising awareness for teenage mental health issues. They'll do it by organizing a 5K race.
