A big turnout for one special little guy, Reece Bova, who seems to put a smile on everyone's face.
"He just is full of joy all the time and it's been pretty incredible for us to see him grow and to overcome everything that he's been faced with and he wakes up every day with a smile," says his mom, Shannon.
Reece's short life has seen a lot of big challenges, born with a rare heart condition called Tetraology of Fallot.
"He was in the hospital for the first three weeks of his life. He has had three heart catherizations, one heart surgery, and we just were in and out of the doctor's offices. He had a blood clot from a procedure and we had to get him injections in his legs twice a day so he's just been, he's been through a lot he's a very special boy."
Special enough to bring over 150 runners to the Chattanooga Riverpark, including some kids his age along for the ride.
"I've been really touched to see little kids Reece's age who are not running for him but you know in strollers coming out to support. I think it just shows that people with healthy babies are so thankful for it and they want to support someone who is not quite as fortunate," says event coordinator Emily Young.
Meanwhile Reece looks on, while his mother hangs on to hope.
"You can always find him smiling and I think that that just makes him so special and I think that his family is really special to, his parents are really strong and aren't losing hope even though they are going through a lot," Young says.
"If he can wake up happy every day and I can see that smile I know every thing is going to be ok," says Shannon Bova.
Today's event raised more than 15-thousand dollars for little Reece. If you'd like to donate, just go to
http://www.runforreece.com/
