Baseball Team Participates in Jamie's Run

Head coach Justin Blood hopes to make this event an annual one for his team.

The University of Hartford baseball team walked in the second annual Jamie’s Run charity run/walk at Wethersfield’s Cove Park in late November. Proceeds from the 5K run and 3K walk benefit the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. The event began in 2010 to celebrate the life of Jamie Knotts, who passed away in January 2010 at the age of five-and-a-half months after battling a rare liver tumor.

The Hawks were part of the more than 700 people who participated in Jamie’s Run, which has raised more than $55,000 for Connecticut Children’s in two years.

“Connecticut Children’s is such a wonderful place. They really helped us through our ordeal,” said Kurt Knotts, Jamie’s father. “It’s really fulfilling to be able to help them.”

Justin Blood, head coach of Hartford baseball and friend of the Knotts family, saw Jamie’s Run as a great way for his team to help out a worthy cause and learn about handling adversity. “We wanted to show our guys that it’s not just about on the field, it’s about your life and how you respond,” said Blood.

Blood also said that Jamie’s Run is something that he would like to make an annual event for his team, “We’re going to be a part of this every year. We spoke to some other teams and we may try to bring some other programs from around the area into this event next year as well and try to get as many kids as we can to come out and help support the cause.”