On December 31st 2020, our dear friend Hanako Abe was walking across a crosswalk in the SOMA district of San Francisco when she was fatally struck by a driver in a hit-and-run accident. The driver was on parole for robbery and was driving a stolen car. Hana was taken to the ER with life-threatening injuries and died shortly after. She was only 27 years old.

Hana embodied resilience, bravery, and hope. Hana grew up in Fukushima, Japan, where her family survived the Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster. Despite this tragedy, Hana continued doing her best in pursuit of her dreams. She put all of her efforts into studying English so that one day she could come to America.

The fruits of her labors were being accepted to the University of Central Arkansas where she developed a passion for computer science. Upon graduating, Hana moved to San Francisco in 2018 where she started pursuing her dream as a data engineer. She always had the warmest smile and made friends wherever she went.

On top of being far away from her family, Hana shouldered an enormous amount of responsibility with her father having an aortic dissection and mother’s battle with lung cancer. Throughout the past year, in the midst of COVID-19, Hana never stopped smiling and was the most resilient and optimistic person we knew.

Hana had such a bright future ahead of her. She was a loving daughter and selfless friend whose life was cut short too tragically.

To honor Hana's memory and help provide needed financial support for her family we are organizing a virtual run. One of Hana's many joys was running and we hope you can join us in this event.

To participate in the virtual run we ask that you complete a 5K during the month of January, and if you share this on social media to include the #RunForHanako hashtag. There is no fee to participate and you can register via the simple form below. We are encouraging participants to consider making a donation to the GoFundMe that has been set up for Hanako's family.

Thank you for honoring Hanako's memory and running with us this month.