Still Time To Sign Up For Dick Mann Memorial Run/Walk

The first ever Dick Mann Memorial Run/Walk not only pays tribute to a local legend, it will also raise money for cancer treatment and research.

The Cleveland Heights High School athletic department is hosting the run April 27 at the high school. Festivities begin at 9 a.m.

There is still time to sign up for the 2-mile run and walk. (A registration form has been attached to this story as a PDF.)

Pre-registration costs $10. It costs $15 to register the day of the race. The run is a fundraiser for University Hospitals Iris S. & Bert Wolstein’s Kids Kicking Cancer Foundation.

As per the race's namesake, Mann was a long-time former cross country and track coach who passed away recently.

He coached at Heights High for 36 years and led the team to a state championship in 1982.

A 1950 Heights High graduate himself, he played baseball, basketball, football and track — racing undefeated his senior year in the 200-yard dash and winning the National AAU 400-yard dash — then attended Case Western Reserve University before serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the United State Air Force in the Korean War.

During his career at Heights High, the school’s record was 359-39-2 and the team won 12 district championships. He was named the Lake Erie League Coach of the Year 21 times and was instrumental in beginning the women’s track and field program.

He also was named the Ohio Coach of the Year in 1982 and the Ohio Career Coach of the Year in 1997.

Mann passed away at age 80 Dec. 31, 2012.