source: http://wtnh.com/2014/07/13/road-race-to-honor-petit-family-hits-milestone

Road race to honor Petit family hits milestone

By Brian SpyrosPublished: July 13, 2014, 7:12 pm

PLAINVILLE, Conn. (WTNH)– For the 7th year in a row, walkers and runners took part in the Petit Road Race in Plainville. The event raises money for the Petit Family Foundation and this year it’s reached a milestone.

Running or walking in the Petit Road Race has become a tradition for many people. But every year, it attracts new people who want to be part of something good.

“Well the history of Dr. Petit and his family,” said Deborah Fenn, Bristol.

“Just to support Dr. Petit after all that he’s been through and it feels good to be here,” said Emily Fenn, Watertown.

Petit road race

The Petit Road Race honors the lives of Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit. In July of 2007, the three were tragically killed during a home invasion in Cheshire.

“It reaffirms that there’s a lot of goodness in people, that people want to help when there’s tragedy, when there’s trouble,” said Petit.

Dr. William Petit has been part of the road race since it first started. All of the money goes to the Petit Family Foundation.

“The money goes to many different grant applicants and our three main missions: education of young people, especially women in sciences, helping and protecting people affected by violence and to help with the education of folks with chronic illnesses,” said Petit.

Dr. Petit says over the last seven years, this event has raised a million dollars. And while Dr. Petit continues to do work in honor of his late wife and daughters, he also is focused on where his life is now with wife Christine, and a young son.

“William is about seven and a half months, he crawled for the first time two days ago. He’s been struggling with crawling for a long time but he figured it out and it’s pretty fun to watch that,” said Petit.