Charlie Hayden remembers exactly how she felt last year, as she headed off to finish Liza Fletcher’s run.

“I was terrified,” she said. “We were all still in shock.”

Hayden’s friend, Liza Fletcher, had been abducted and killed. Hayden had thrown herself into the task of organizing a run unlike any that had ever been before.

Calkins: With hope and defiance, thousands finished Eliza Fletcher’s run

The idea was to finish the run that Liza couldn’t. To gather in Midtown at 4:20 a.m. and run the course Liza had set out to run not long before.

Hayden had spent a frantic few days coordinating with the city, the neighborhood and the police department. Then, roughly 48 hours before the run was to begin, a mass shooter drove around the city, killing three Memphians and injuring three more.

So how many people would dare come to the early morning run? Was it too much of a risk?

“I had assurances that we would be safe,” Hayden said. “But I was terrified. I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to go. But I got on my bike, and I rode down Central Avenue. And as I was riding, I saw some lights that somebody had put on their lawn that spelled ‘Liza.’ Once I saw that, I felt it was going to be OK. And it turned out to be miraculous.”

More than 2,000 Memphians gathered in the early hours that morning. Some ran, some walked, some held candles. Most cried. 

Conaway: She ran for a friend, she ran for a city

But that was only the start of it. People ran in Nashville and Birmingham and Chattanooga. They ran in Italy and Australia and France.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hayden said. “It was the start of a beautiful legacy for Liza. To see so many Memphians come together in the face of fear and terror, it was the city at its best, as far as I’m concerned. I won’t pretend to speak for the thousands of people who ran it — I think every runner has a different reason. But we knew it had to happen again.”

So it is happening again, Memphis.

It is happening this Friday at 4:20 a.m.

Yes, 901 Day. Runners will gather at Central Avenue and Belvedere Boulevard to — this is the official name of the event — Finish Liza’s Run.

‘Eliza. It means joy.’ Hundreds gather to remember Eliza Fletcher

This year, Hayden is asking participants to register for the event, although there is no fee involved.

You can find all the details here. There is also a Facebook page for the event.

“This is a run, not a race,” Hayden said. “It is for all paces — you can walk if you like. There’s no cost, no competition. You can bring your friends or come alone. All you have to do is come. You can just come to be a witness. That is important, too.”

Hayden understands the limits of such an event, of course. Last year’s run, for all its emotional power, did nothing to staunch the flow of tragedy. In retrospect, Fletcher’s abduction and murder seems like the start of a violent and traumatic year. 

“Do I think about that? I think about it every day,” she said. “I’m not any more encouraged about my personal safety than I was the morning of that run. Especially after the year that we’ve had. But I choose to live by the credo of leaving things better than I found them. And this is a part of that for me. As someone who lives here and lives in fear a lot of the time, it’s my choice, and it’s my responsibility to finish Liza’s Run. And to do it scared, if necessary.”

Hayden, 40, actually grew up in Atlanta. She understands Memphis is not the only city beset with crime.

Hutchison retires Eliza Fletcher’s number — and unveils an annual award in her name

“But this is where we are; this is our home,” she said. “As I said the morning of the run last year, before we set out, ‘Liza needs this; Memphis needs this, and the world needs this.’ All of that is still true. I think, after the year Memphis has had, we need it more than ever.

“In a perfect world, we would have a Memphis where we didn’t have to run scared. But I don’t think that day is here yet. And I don’t think we will get there if we quit.”

So Hayden will be there again, this Friday morning. She hopes y’all will join her. And, yes, she knows the run is happening on 901 Day. She has thought a lot about that, too.

“The plan is to have the run the Friday before Labor Day,” she said. “That is when the tragedy happened, that is the anniversary of her run. This year, it just happened to fall on 901 Day.

“That’s pretty special, isn’t it?”