Bryanna Ey was a new runner with her sights set on completing her first half-marathon with her mother this month.
“We ran together, all the time,” said her mom, Holly Goodenough of Dundalk.
But before they could run the 2016 Island to Island half-marathon in Ocean City, Ey, 21, was killed in a car crash on Interstate 95.
The cheerleading coach and Towson University nursing student died Dec. 10, a day after the three-car crash.
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She left behind numerous friends, family and the students whom she coached at Lunar Allstars dance school in Forest Hill.
“She was a very determined, motivated and caring person, and you knew exactly where you stood with her,” her mother recalled.
If a friend had a big test or another major event, Ey would always remember and text words of encouragement, Goodenough said.
“She was a very giving person,” she said.
Ey’s family has established the Bry Strong 4 Life memorial fund to help other students who wish to pursue careers in the medical field.
The first scholarship will be given to an Eastern Technical High School student in May.
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A team of 81 will run on the BryStrong team in Island to Island, which also features a 5K race.
Rob Feigley, a longtime friend of Goodenough’s, is running in the 5K in support of BryStrong. He said he has a personal goal of raising $1,000 for the memorial fund.
“We want to make something good come out of this,” Feigley said.
BryStrong has several other fundraisers planned for this year, including a bull and oyster roast in August and the Donate Life 5K on Oct. 1 in Baltimore. Proceeds from the latter benefit the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, a nonprofit handling organ and tissue donation for most of Maryland. Ey was an organ donor.
The OCMD Island to Island Half Marathon and 5K will begin at 7 a.m. Saturday at the Ocean City inlet.
Goodenough expects to be emotional as she crosses the finish line.
“It’s still so fresh and new, it’s hard. I’m not 100 percent sure how I’m going to feel about it,” she said. “I know I’m going to feel like I’m running it for her.”
