ADRIAN TWP. — A prominent advocate for mental health care services in Lenawee County has died after being hit by a car while jogging last week.
Greg Adams, chairman of the board of the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority and founder of the E-race the Stigma 5K, died Sunday, the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Adams, 48, of Adrian, was jogging in the northbound lane of Howell Highway north of Oakwood Road around 7 a.m. on Feb. 7 when he was struck by a 2020 Buick that was also going northbound on Howell , according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. . The car was being driven by a 32-year-old woman from Tecumseh. Adams wore black running tights, a navy blue jacket and a headlamp.
He was transported to the ProMedica Toledo Hospital, where he died after his organs were donated, according to publications in a GoFundMe Page established to support his fiancée, Stefani Kozlowski.
The seventh E-Race the Stigma race was held last September instead of its usual time in May, as organizers allowed participants more time to take advantage of COVID-19 vaccinations and the number of cases. The 2020 race was held virtually.
Adrian’s Central Streets Race is one of the highest attended fundraising races in the county. The first run had about 400 participants and raised about $24,000 for mental health services. About 700 people signed up for the 2021 race. About 900 people ran in the 2019 race, which was the last electric race held before the pandemic.
Adams came up with the idea for the E-Race because of his own experience using exercise as part of the treatment regimen he used after he was diagnosed with bipolar. She originally started running to lose weight and improve his fitness and went from weighing 250 pounds to about 150.
“The thing that really kept me afloat was working out,” he said in a 2014 Daily Telegram interview. “It gave me something to work for. It anchored me.”
The accident is being further investigated by the Lenawee County Accident Investigation Team, according to the release. The sheriff’s office was assisted on scene by the Adrian Fire Department, Adrian Township Police Department, Raisin Township Police Department and Adrian Police Department.
