Join us for the 17th Annual Herbie’s Hometown Loop, Saturday, August 5, 2023

Jeremy Herbstritt was a 1998 Bellefonte Area High School graduate who loved life and the outdoors. He, and 31 other students and professors, were killed during a mass shooting on April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Herbie’s Home “Town Loop” was created by Jeremy’s family and friends in 2007 to remember and honor him, and give something back to the community who gave so much to them in their time of grief.

Funds raised from this year’s event will benefit the VTV Family Outreach Foundation’s VTVCare program and a local family (Popovitch) in need. VTVCare is an endowment fund that provides financial assistance to mass shooting survivors nationwide to help cover long-term trauma-related medical and mental healthcare expenses that insurance and other governmental programs do not cover. For more information on VTVCare, please visit http://www.vtvcare.org

On May 21, 2023, 19-year-old, Haley Popovitch, Bellefonte, suffered severe 3^rd degree burns over 50-60% of her body after tripping and falling into a fire pit at her home. She was life flighted to Lehigh Valley Burn Center for extensive treatments. Your donations will help her family cover medical treatments and recovery bills. Haley will have a long journey ahead of her but we are optimistic of her pushing through this very difficult time.

COURSE: The 4-mile course is wheel measured. The run/walk begins and ends at the Bellefonte Area HS track (new location) and traverses the perimeter of the town of Bellefonte.

ENTRY FEES: $25 if postmarked by 8/1/2023. $30 thereafter, and on race day. Register online: https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Bellefonte/17thAnnualNVRCHerbiesHomeTownLoop4MileRunWalk

History of Herbie’s Hometown Loop

Following Jeremy’s death on April 16, 2007 there was an outpouring of love and support from the Bellefonte and State College communities for Jeremy and his family. By the summer of 2007 Jeremy’s family was anxiously looking for a way to give something back to their community as a thank you of sorts. They knew that whatever they did would seem small in comparison to what the community had done for them, but they were determined to try and come up with something substantial. As well, they desperately wanted to do something for Jeremy, not just to remember him, but to give him his day, a day he’d never have, as he’d lost out on so much through his untimely death (gradations and a wedding, children, birthday party milestones, all of that stuff that’s so easy for us to overlook in our everyday lives and take for granted). And so, was created Herbie’s Home Town Loop.

Initially, HHL was just a 4-mile run. The route follows a path Jeremy and his siblings used to run together often. Jeremy was always naming his runs silly things, and this run naturally picked up the tag line “Town Loop” (as it loops the town of Bellefonte). From Day 1, Jeremy’s High School Cross Country and Track teammates and coaches called him Herbie. His hometown was Bellefonte, and so, we fittingly named the event Herbie’s Home “Town Loop”.

Jeremy enjoyed running races, local 5K’s and 10K’s, all the food thereafter, race t-shirts, beer at the finish line, the whole to-do! We like to think he would have appreciated HHL.  So we ask you to run with us, to enjoy the day, to remember Jeremy and his vibrant spirit, and to support our community. Thank you!