About 175 runners braved the cold Friday night to participate in the 4th Annual Keep the Pace 5K Run to remember former LSU graduate Charlotte Murray Pace and to benefit her namesake MBA scholarship.
LSU’s chapter of the National Association of Women MBAs holds the annual race in honor of Pace, an alumna of the University’s Flores MBA Program who was murdered by Derrick Todd Lee a week after graduating in 2002.
Lexi DeBrock, president of the University’s chapter of the National Association of Women MBAs, said the goal of this event is to one day raise enough money so the scholarship and Pace’s memory can last forever.
The event was held at the University’s Natatorium Field. Participants registered for a 5K or 1-mile fun run. The 5K started on West Chimes Street and ran down Dalrymple Drive, Lakeshore Drive and South Campus Drive. After the race, participants had food and drinks while door prizes were awarded.
DeBrock said she expected to raise about $9,000, but the murky weather might have affected the turnout.
Ann Pace, the mother of Charlotte Murray Pace, attended the race to show her support. She said every race is emotional for her, but it’s uplifting because the scholarship supports students like her daughter.
The Charlotte Murray Pace Memorial MBA Scholarship is given to a second-year MBA graduate student.
The school looks to award applicants who share some of Pace’s characteristics, like being from Mississippi or participating in collegiate-level soccer, though those things aren’t required to win the scholarship.
Ann Pace described her daughter’s friends who created her scholarship as “memory-keepers” because the scholarship creates a positive contribution in honor of her daughter that she couldn’t make herself.
Jason Sager, franchise owner of a Home Instead Senior Care, comes from Washington, D.C., every year because Pace was one of his good friends.
“I went to a graduation party at Murray’s house,” he said. “Then seven days later, I was coming back for a funeral. It was a week of unbelievable highs and lows.”
Sager said he and Pace’s fellow classmates started the scholarship a decade ago to do something special for such a special person.
Noah Lirette, a graduate student in the MBA program, ran in the 5K on Friday night.
“I don’t know who [Pace] is, but she is in my heart and in my legs, and she is going to power me through this race,” Lirette said.
Ed Watson, director of Flores MBA Program who was one of Pace’s professors, participated in the 5K for the first time this year.
Watson said he enjoys coming to this event because it means Pace’s life won’t be forgotten.
“Whatever we are doing, it’s great to see students, alumni, and community members coming together and supporting each other,” he said.
 
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Contact Marylee Williams at [email protected]