The organizers for the popular “Finish for a Guinness” 5K that launched 15 years ago to support a family member diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) were recognized and honored in appreciation for their stewardship of that race, following the completion of what will be the final such road race this past month.

Tara Thibaudeau, Erin Kopecky, Amy Stone, Holly DaSilveira, and Shannon Barnowski were given a special citation by the Warren Town Council, and both the Rhode Island House of Representatives and Rhode Island State Senate for their work in organizing and coordinating the race over the past 15 years.

“This was an incredible event,” said Town Councilman Joe DePasquale. “This was one of those great events for a sad situation. The Kee family made this one of the look-forward-to events. I’ve been to road races all over the state and none of them compare to the hospitality that was shown, the festive nature, the fun, the camaraderie, and the good weather we often enjoyed.”

State Senator Walter Felag Jr. called the organization of the race an act of “outstanding volunteerism. “They basically put Warren on the map for road racing,” he said.

Thibaudeau, who helped start the first Finish for a Guinness to help raise funds for her sister Amy’s husband, Christopher Stone, who was diagnosed with ALS and shortly thereafter passed away from the disease, reported to the Council how the race evolved and grew over the years.

“Over the course of 15 years we started with about 183 runners the first year,” she said. “This year we registered 1,300 people to run in the race.”

Thibaudeau also said the group had raised in total more than $500,000 for ALS research, with a large share of that going to Compassionate Care ALS in Massachusetts and other donations going to local charitable efforts throughout the community.

“It was one of the best days of the year for us and for lots of people,” she said. “They wanted us to do it again but I think 15 years is a good run. I think we have done our time. We set out to make a bad situation good, which I think we did.”