500-plus expected for Rock Hill race to help charity for child carbon monoxide victim

One of Rock Hill’s fastest growing holiday traditions for those who can run or even just walk returns Saturday with the 6th Annual Gobble Wobble races.

And this year, the event, with more than 500 runners and walkers expected, will raise money for a charity created to honor a child who died in 2013 in the hopes that no child ever dies from carbon monoxide poisoning again.

The Gobble Wobble 8K/5K road race will donate all proceeds to the Jeffrey Lee Williams Foundation.

Jeffrey, 11, from Rock Hill, died in 2013 at a Boone motel from carbon monoxide poisoning. His family started the foundation to raise awareness and money to try to put carbon monoxide detectors in more homes and businesses.

Money from the race will go to 18 York County fire departments to purchase and give out more than 2,000 alarms and dozens more portable monitors and alarms.

Rock Hill’s Junior Welfare League holds the event with help from dozens of sponsors. Racers are expected from as far away as Colorado and New York. The race starts at 8 a.m. Saturday at Fountain Park in downtown Rock Hill and will wind through several neighborhoods.

Last year more than 350 racers participated.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 7:47 AM with the headline "500-plus expected for Rock Hill race to help charity for child carbon monoxide victim."