MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Runners in Mobile are paying tribute to a man killed in a car crash last year. Victor Birch is remembered as the man who helped encourage so many others to reach their personal bests.
Victor Birch helped found the Blue Bell Bombers–a running group that trains around Rangeline road, this past weekend several of those bombers ran the race Victor Birch and his friends were training for before he died. Victor Birch couldn’t be with his Blue Bell Bombers in Texas at this weekend’s Houston Marathon, but he certainly was there in spirit. The group has stuck together in his memory and continued to train. Birch was so pumped for Houston he had already registered to run and they picked up his racing bib this weekend. Some finished with their best times and some qualified for the Boston Marathon. They say Victor’s training and heart were with each one of them.
“He put a lot of heart and energy in this group and each one of us, it just makes no sense to fall apart he created this running group and we’re going to keep it going,” said Keith Evans with the Blue Bell Bombers. “Victor would have wanted us to come here and do it no matter what he was the leader of the group and so special we were determined to come here and do this marathon for him.” The running group continues to meet at the same location Sunday mornings.
Friends say victor birch would have wanted them to keep going without him no matter what.
Victor Birch was killed in late September in a crash on Rangeline Road. His vehicle was hit head-on by another vehicle. The other driver was injured but survived. At this point, no criminal charges have been filed and at last check Monday, Mobile Police would only say this is an ongoing investigation.
