RICHMOND, Va. -- Governor Terry McAuliffe held a signing ceremony of the Meg’s Miles bill on Friday, June 3. His signature allowed the issuance of a new license plate in Virginia.
The plate is a reminder to many of Meg Cross Menzies. She was well known in the Richmond running community and her death rallied complete strangers to unite and run in her honor.
Menzies died when an impaired driver hit her on a morning run training with her husband in Hanover County two years ago.
The Cross family sat by the governor today while he signed the bill. It was a moment that brought conflicting emotions.
“Sad that we are here because she is not here and excited and happy because this is a wonderful thing,” said Menzies’ mother Pam Cross.
With a shaky voice, her father Wirt Cross held back tears and said, “No sense of relief but just a pride.... a pride... that you can only get... the only thing we'll have left.”
During the signing ceremony, Governor McAuliffe said, “It is a tragedy that we had here in Virginia and I do think with the issuance of this new license plate today it will help save the lives of other runners.”
Ryan Hudson attended the signing. He says he was part of Menzies’ church family. Hudson came up with the idea to create a license plate and worked with Pam Cross on its design.
“We thought well what about Meg running at sunset in Richmond in the Richmond skyline because we wanted it to be recognizable we wanted it to provoke conversation so that folks would go to the runformeg.com website,” Hudson explained.
Money raised will fund scholarships and other initiatives with a message with a simple message.
“People need to be aware when they get in the car to not drink and drive,” Pam Cross said.
