Runners of all ages gathered in Rochester’s Seneca Park June 25 to compete in the seventh-annual SSGT Javier Ortiz Memorial 5K Race and Fitness Walk. Originally organized as a fundraiser for the Puerto Rican Festival, the event was renamed in 2011 to honor a local Marine who was killed by a roadside bomb in November 2010 while deployed to Afghanistan. Runners have since competed in the race to honor all soldiers from the community who have died during military service.
