The race happened Sunday around the City Center area, with the finish line outside the Marriott at City Center. Close to 1,000 people participated in the city’s inaugural DAV race, said Ashley H. Martin, a spokeswoman for the event.

Newport News joined Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati and Tulsa on DAV’s list of race series for this November. About 60 percent of participants, excluding walk-ups, were veterans, Martin said. Other non-veterans were likely participating to show support, she said.”There are lots of people out here who are here in honor of someone,” Martin said

Dave Riley, the DAV’s national president, said they decided to add Newport News to their national race series because the local chapter members are “very active” and have done a lot of local work.

In 1997, Riley said he contracted a bacterial infection while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard and lost both legs and arms. The DAV connected him with resources, especially when he “crashed hard” in 2008 with depression, he said. He spent time re-evaluating, recovering and gaining some adrenaline through specialized skiing at a recovery center in Aspen.

Riley, who has prosthetic limbs, was one of the participants on Sunday and rode a battery-generated cycle that had power issues early on. That put him in the back of group but didn’t stop him from finishing the race. He stood at the finish line to greet others.

“Seeing the people come across the finish line, that was a good feeling,” Riley said.

Brooke Davis, a veteran and participant, drove up from North Carolina to run. She said she was honoring her fellow veterans and got to run with a fellow “battle buddy” who was in basic training with her.

It’s that sense of camaraderie that makes this race series special, Riley said. It’s the same feeling that helped him beat depression.

“It’s a feeling, you know, knowing I wasn’t the only one out there who was going through this,” Riley said.

Amin can be reached by phone at 757-247-4890.