Anna O’Reilly had a knack for running from an early age.
She learned to love the outdoors from hiking with her parents, but her mother, Donna O’Reilly, believes Anna derived something even greater from running.
“I think the running gave her more freedom,” she said.
Anna was a rising senior on Keene State College’s women’s cross country team and a previous cross country star at Hopkinton High School. She passed away unexpectedly in early July when she took her own life. On Thursday, local runners laced up their shoes and dressed in purple shirts to honor her with a four-mile memorial run.
Anna’s Run charted the same path as the last run she logged on Strava, the popular running app, starting on Kearsarge Avenue in Hopkinton, looping around the rail trail and circling back.
The consensus among the event’s organizers, friends and coaches was that a run was the best way to honor Anna, both as a person and an athlete.
Over 400 participants signed up for the run. Together, the community raised $12,000 for the Connor’s Climb Foundation, a suicide prevention organization — double the run’s original fundraising goal.
“Unbelievable, the commitment all these people have and the pain they’re feeling for us,” said Joseph O’Reilly, Anna’s dad. “We can feel it, we can sense their pain, that they need to do this to help.”
“Heal,” Donna added.
“Heal,” he affirmed.
The Connor’s Climb Foundation provides education across New Hampshire at no cost to schools or communities. The foundation aims to help people recognize the signs that someone — specifically young people between 10 and 24 years old — needs help or support.
During her time at Hopkinton High School, Anna stood out as a talented runner on the cross country and track and field teams.
Anna was happiest with her friends or running. In Hopkinton, she led successful campaigns to back-to-back Division III cross country championships in her junior and senior years, and she also won the 1600m at the D-III track and field championships during her final year in high school.
“Her effect on the team was something that’s passed on to others, whether they know it or not, she brought that culture and helped keep that going,” said head coach Rob Rothe.
Even runners who competed against her in high school and coaches from other schools joined the tribute event and ran the four miles in her memory.
Her best friend, Riley Lawless, said she joined the team not because she was as passionate about running as Anna but because being around her and other friends was enough.
The two grew up on the same street in Hopkinton, right across from the middle-high school where they spent their days together. They worked side-by-side at Dunkin’, and despite being apart after high school, they stayed close.
Lawless described Anna as a creative person, a cool artist and a passionate photographer.
Anna, Lawless said, was a surprisingly good hip hop dancer and filled her bedroom walls with posters. In May, they saw Kendrick Lamar and SZA in concert together, and they stayed up late listening to music they loved on the drive home.
She was a dedicated friend and spread laughter wherever she went. Their friendship was “probably like 50% giggling,” she said.
“She did all these cool things, and she had a great life. But at the same time, she was depressed, and they can exist at the same time,” Lawless said.
She addressed the crowd before the race.
“I just really love to see everyone out here, a lot of people I don’t know, but a lot of people I do. Anna probably would have run this race, won this race, but good luck to everybody,” she said.
The crowd moved in a purple swarm toward the starting line and ran on the same ground that Anna did during the last run of her flourishing career.
Joseph and Donna O’Reilly finished together, holding hands as their jogs slowed down to cathartic applause from the crowd.
To learn more about Connor’s Climb Foundation’s training, events and resources for positive mental health awareness and youth suicide prevention across New Hampshire, visit connorsclimb.org.
If you need help
National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: If you or someone you know needs support, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
NH Rapid Response Access Point: If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis, call/text 1-833-710-6477 to speak to trained clinical staff.