‘Run for Their Lives’ Walk Held in Parkland One Week After Colorado Terror Attack

One week after a terrorist firebombed a “Run for Their Lives” walk in Boulder, Colorado, over 100 people took part in the Parkland chapter’s walk Sunday to raise awareness for the Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza.

Parkland resident Helene Foster, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, started the local chapter after feeling compelled to act in the wake of the Hamas-led, October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken into Gaza.

“We’re not going to stop until the last hostage is home,” said Foster, 53, who has lived in Parkland for 25 years.

The large turnout at Sunday’s walk, nearly double the usual attendance, reflected surging participation in Run for Their Lives walks all over the world in the past week – a response to the Colorado firebombing in which Mohamed Soliman allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” as he burned 15 people on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, using Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower.

“It’s not stopping us, it’s not deterring us, and we’re going to keep bringing awareness to the hostages so that their names and their stories are not forgotten,” said Foster, a volunteer whose Parkland-Boca Raton Run for Their Lives chapter is one of 230 across the globe.

With the FBI and Department of Homeland Security this week warning of an “increased threat” to U.S. Jews, the Parkland group walked amid increased security while chanting for the hostages’ return. They wore pieces of tape with “611” on their chests to mark how many days hostages have been in Hamas captivity – a practice started by Rachel Goldberg-Polin to honor her son, murdered Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

“We always say we hope we don’t see each other the next week,” Foster said, “because we hope everyone will be home.”

The Parkland-Boca Raton chapter holds walks in both cities and has hit the streets every week, rain or shine, since Dec. 21, 2023. The event has drawn participants that include Holocaust survivors, teenagers, and even families of Israeli hostages; a relative of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, as well as family of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, also slain by Hamas, have walked with the Parkland group.

Foster, a freelance writer and graphic designer, said the walks are a way for people to raise awareness of the hostages and their plight.

“After October 7, I didn’t know where to turn and what to do,” she recalled. “I inadvertently stumbled upon Run for Their Lives … and there was nothing near me, so I inquired about starting a chapter.”

What began as a small gathering of family and neighbors has grown into a community event that draws between 35 and 75 people, with a remarkable 450 participants attending to mark 100 days since the October 7 attacks.

Adrienne Sasson, of Margate, joined the Parkland walk for the first time Sunday.

“Seeing so many people standing strong, especially after Boulder, gives me a sense of community, strength and support for the release of the remaining hostages and for Israel,” said Sasson, whose husband is Israeli. “When something of the magnitude of October 7 happened, it was like waking up to a living nightmare. I never imagined this nightmare would be lasting 611 days.”

Foster said Sunday’s walk was also a show of solidarity with the Boulder Run for Their Lives group, whose members were burned in the June 1 attack. Among them was an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who is recovering from her injuries.

In interviews with investigators, Soliman confessed to the antisemitic incendiary attack and said he wanted “to kill all Zionist people,” authorities said.

The Egyptian national told investigators he had been planning the firebombing for a year, specifically targeting the Run for Their Lives group after finding them through an online search.

Federal authorities have charged Soliman with a federal hate crime, which carries a potential life sentence. He also faces 118 state charges, including attempted murder.

The Run for Their Lives movement has gained international recognition in the week since the attack. On Saturday, during their weekly gathering in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, families of Israeli hostages gave a shout-out to Run for Their Lives, bringing the initiative “full circle,” according to Foster.

Foster on Sunday also received a bracelet from Shiri Bibas’ cousin, a Parkland resident and participant in the Sunday walks. The bracelet was a gift from former hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two sons were abducted on October 7 and murdered in Gaza.

Foster said her family history also fuels her dedication to the hostages; Her paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors from Poland, and her grandfather lost his entire family to the Nazis.

She recalled how, as a little girl, she saw concentration camp prisoner numbers tattooed on the arm of her mother’s cousin.

“He used to tell me it was there so that he didn’t forget his phone number,” Foster said of the cousin, whose wife and three-year-old daughter were murdered in the Holocaust.

Foster isn’t the only one in her family impacting local Jewish communities; One of her sons, Parkland resident Evan Foster, 24, manages the Judy Levis Krug Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival, she said.

Anyone interested in joining the Parkland-Boca Raton Run for Their Lives group or another chapter can visit the organization’s website.

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