"Coach Jay" 5K to raise money for family

Coach Jay Ingram, with his mohawk, his impish grin, his playful personality and his guiding spirit, was a larger than life character whose untimely death in January has only served to magnify his impact on others.

Three months after the popular coach was struck and killed by an SUV during an early morning jog, those who knew and loved him are honoring Ingram by hosting a "Coach Jay 5K" on Sunday, sponsored by the North Atlanta Soccer Association, where he coached girls youth soccer for almost a decade. All proceeds will go to benefit his family.

The 32-year-old was a fixture at Kennesaw Charter Science and Math Academy, where he taught physical education for nine years.

When his wife, Corinne, also started working there in August as a special education teacher, she soon became known to all as "Mrs. Coach." His 8-year-old son, Aiden, who sports a copycat mohawk, was nicknamed "Baby Coach" from an early age.

Four-year-old daughter Kailyn, with her half-moon eyes and cherubic smile, was also a familiar face to Ingram's pupils on and off the soccer field.

Since his death, students have taken to wearing yellow, Ingram's favorite color, on Friday "spirit days," when they aren't required to wear uniforms. Friends also sport yellow plastic bracelets with his trademark phrase, "Yeah baby!" emblazoned on them.

Hosting a 5K run was particularly appropriate way to honor Ingram's legacy, said Nicole Smith, whose 12-year-old daughter Mackenzie was on Ingram's soccer team. Ingram had competed in full and half-marathons.

"This is what he loved doing," said Smith. "This is what ultimately took his life."

Ingram ran 30-40 miles a week, often getting up as early as 4:30 a.m. to squeeze in a jog before work.

Corinne Ingram said on Jan. 26, she was finishing her daily Bible devotional around 6 a.m. when she grew concerned that her husband hadn't returned home.

As she rounded up the kids and went looking for him in her car, her instincts told her something was wrong. She turned a corner and saw the blue lights of a patrol car on North Booth Road. Her heart lurched. She left the kids in the car and went running up to the police line, demanding, "You need to tell me if a man was hit here."

An officer confirmed Jay had been struck by a sport utility vehicle. He was hospitalized in critical condition with severe head trauma.

Jay Ingram never woke up.

"I'm not sad, like uncontrollably can't-get-out-of-bed sad," Corinne Ingram said on Wednesday at her home. "But I miss him every day."

If not for her Christian faith, Corinne Ingram said she might be angry at the driver who struck Jay. William Benton, 50, of Doraville, has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide.

Corinne wants to know why the accident happened, but she doesn't harbor resentment.

Instead, she takes comfort in a well-timed daily Bible verse message that she received the day Jay died. It was Exodus 14:14, which says "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." The verse is now tattooed on Corinne's foot, along with the shape of a Christian fish and a cross.

After Jay Ingram died. he left several parting gifts.

His lungs went to a 27-year-old woman. One of his kidneys and his pancreas were donated to a 38-year-old man. Another kidney and his liver were transplanted into a 48-year-old man. And his heart went to a 65-year-old woman.

However, it was his spirit that continues to inspire others like Sam Thomas, an 18-year-old woman who Ingram coached as a 13-year-old. Thomas credits Coach Jay with inspiring her to keep playing at higher levels. Next year, she will start on the Georgia State University women's soccer team.

"He genuinely cared about each one of us -- not just winning and not just soccer," Thomas said. "He tried to make us all a better person."

What: The Coach Jay 5K & 1 Mile Croc Walk, sponsored by the North Atlanta Soccer Association