By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Each June, more than 2,500 runners flock to downtown Syracuse to raise money for Paige’s Butterfly Run, which supports pediatric cancer research and other initiatives at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. This year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Paige’s Butterfly Run and its sister event, Pedaling 4 Paige, are going virtual.

Runners, walkers and cyclists will be able to complete their respective events and record their times between Aug. 15 and 20, with a virtual awards ceremony scheduled for Aug. 22. Registration opened June 1. (See sidebar for more info.)

“Because you’re not tied down to one particular day, you can give people a span of time that allows them to do their portion of the event at a time most convenient to them. It’s a more relaxed approach. We chose August because it’s not a busy time in the calendar in the running community,” said Chris Arnold, president of Paige’s Butterfly Run and father of Paige Yeomans Arnold, a Palmer Elementary student who  passed away from leukemia complications at age 8 in 1994.

Paige’s Butterfly Run began in 1997, three years after Paige’s death. A group of Paige’s teachers approached her parents, Chris Arnold and Ellen Yeomans, with the idea of holding a walk/run to honor Paige and raise money for a scholarship fund and what is now the Dr. William J. Waters Center for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.

“The butterfly was selected as a symbol of the event not only because she was so fond of them, but because they typified her: beautiful and gentle, but strong beyond imagining,” reads the website for Paige’s Butterfly Run.

The first walk/run in 1997 drew 225 people. In 2008, Paige’s Butterfly Run partnered with the Taste of Syracuse and moved from Palmer to the James M. Hanley Federal Building in downtown Syracuse. The organization added two more fundraisers in 2016: the indoor spinning event Pedaling 4 Paige and the Clams 4 Cures Clambake. To date, Paige’s Butterfly Run has raised $3.5 million for pediatric oncology research and patient programs.

For an organization that relies heavily on its events to raise money, the transition to virtual fundraisers has been a difficult one, Arnold said.

“They are substitutions, not replacements. Part of what I love about the events we put on is the energy of people — we’re here for a reason,” he said.

Arnold said he is hoping in-person events can return once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

“It is my absolute intention to go back to in-person events as soon as we can,” he said.

Participants of Pedaling 4 Paige and Paige’s Butterfly Run who registered before the pandemic forced the organization to switch gears do not need to re-register for their events. Those registrations have been imported into the RunSignup platform, and runners and cyclists can claim their entries and access their fundraising pages with just a few clicks.

“We are learning how to do something different and we are hoping that the community can participate with us at a good level and strong level in a virtual way, and we will do the best that we can to make it attractive to do,” Arnold said.

In the coming weeks, Paige’s Butterfly Run will release video testimonials from families of kids who have benefited from the research and programming the organization funds — kids like Paige.

“It’s all in her memory but for today’s and tomorrow’s kids,” Arnold said. “We want to make the path for today’s patients and families better.”