Story provided by the USC Upstate Athletics Department
USC Upstate athletics, in partnership with Johnny and Laurie Lee of Spartanburg, S.C., is honored to host the 11th Annual Josh Lee Memorial 5K on Saturday, October 10, 2026, on the USC Upstate campus. This year’s race marks 11 years since the accident where Josh and fellow student-athletes, James Campbell, Mills Sproull and Sarah Vande Berg were lost.
Proceeds from the race go toward the Josh Lee Memorial Scholarship, which was established in 2015 by the Lee family to create transformative opportunities for student-athletes. The scholarship is awarded each year to one male and one female member of the cross country/track and field team who is a rising sophomore with at least a 3.0 GPA and in good standing on the team.
Last year’s event shattered event records drawing 490 participants, 293 finishers, and raising more than $120,000 for the Josh Lee Memorial Scholarship. The 293 finishers broke the previous event record by more than 50 participants.
The race was created by Cathy Marshall and Thomas Voelker and was first held in 2016 as part of the Mighty Moo Festival in Cowpens. The race eventually moved to the USC Upstate campus and is named in honor of Josh Lee, a USC Upstate cross-country runner and scholar-athlete who died in a car accident alongside his fellow Spartans on October 11, 2015.
This year’s race will start at 9:00 a.m. from G.B. Hodge Center on the campus of USC Upstate and will roughly go until 11:00 a.m. or until the last runner crosses the finish line. Packet pick up and registration will be on the quad beside the Hodge building or inside the Hodge building, depending on the weather.
The registration fee is currently $25 and will increase after September 14th. You can register for the 5k here. Donations are also welcome. Please click here if you wish to give a donation.