1.78 mile race to honor badge #178: Runners, walkers pay tribute to fallen North Myrtle Beach sergeant

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A 1.78 mile run/walk was held Saturday morning at the North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex to honor Sgt. Gordon Best who died in the line of duty on January 1.

Clayton Hucks, 20, organized the run/walk after originally planning to just do the run by himself. Best’s badge number was 178, so Hucks planned the course to be 1.78 miles in his honor.

At 8 a.m. about a hundred people came out in support, braving the cold temperatures to run in Best’s honor. North Myrtle Beach Police Chief Tommy Dennis also took part in the race and carried an American flag the entire run.

Hucks said he knows people can be so divided over every issue, so to see the community come out in support, he said it reminded him, of how close this community is.

“We had a huge and diverse group come out, I think that’s the main thing. Diversity shows unity, and that’s the main thing, if you look in today’s world, we’re divided on every single level, so to see all these people come out together in unity is really nice,” Hucks said.

Hucks said he wanted to start this event because Best’s loss hit him so close to home.

“Since I was a little boy, I wanted to be a police officer. Next year I hope to come back here and wear the North Myrtle Beach Department of Public Safety Badge. And Gordon also had the same dream as me, to be a police officer since he was a little boy. So seeing this happen to someone who had the same exact dreams as me is really tragic. Especially since I live in Barefoot Resort which is where Sgt. Best was responding. It literally hit close to home,” he said.

Best was the first North Myrtle Beach police officer to lose his life in the line of duty. He is survived by his parents, his wife, Taylor, and two young children.

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