Ridgewood Police Officer Runs Honolulu Marathon For Fallen Colleagues

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — Three-hours, 53 minutes and 1 second after bolting from the starting line, Ridgewood Police Officer John Ward Jr. finished the Honolulu Marathon in honor of two fallen colleagues on a humid Sunday morning.

First New Jerseyan to the finish. 3:53:01
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: John Ward Jr.*

Midland Park Police Officer Chris Birch, Waldwick Police Officer Chris Goodell
Photo Credit: *Family photos*

Ward raised more than $6,000.
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: John Ward Jr.*

Cecilia Levine

12/16/2015 3:00 p.m.

The officer came in 1st place out of the 2,000 New Jersey runners and in the fourth percentile of the entire field.

Ward had raised $6,095 for the run on his GoFundMe page as of Tuesday evening in memory of Officers Christopher Goodell of Waldwick and Christopher Birch of Midland Park.

The money will go to the Christopher Goodell Scholarship Fund and Special Olympics New Jersey in the name of Midland Park Officer Chris Birch.

"[Goodell and Birch] were outstanding officers who did everything the right way," Ward told Daily Voice.

Both officers families expressed their appreciation to Ward, who ran the New York Marathon last year to raise funds for the Bone Marrow Registry.

"A lot of people move on and forget, but families don’t," the officer said. "They live with that every day."

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