A run was held on Saturday to honor a Long Island native and Parkland teacher killed while trying to protect his students.

More than 600 runners took part in the "Run for Beigel" 5K at Heckscher State Park in East Islip to celebrate what would have been Scott J. Beigel’s 40th birthday.

Beigel was a beloved teacher, cross country coach and summer camp counselor who was murdered in a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Teachers from Half Hollow Hills, where Scott went to school, participated in the run and said they felt a special connection to him.

“When it all happened, it was just overwhelming to see what these educators went through to protect their students, and in a moment that could be us," said teacher Nicole Vance.

"The goal is to spread awareness of gun violence…to celebrate his life as an educator, and educators do have a big impact on the children," said teacher Sarah Baptiste.

His mother, Linda Beigel Schulman, said he loved to run and coach young people. She hopes his legacy will live on.

“The people who are out here for Run for Beigel... are out here with all their hearts," she said.

All the money raised will go toward a memorial fund that sends underserved children to summer sleep-away camp.

Fran Carlos Galitia was a recipient of the fund and will soon be a "camp counselor in training" – following in Beigel's footsteps.

"I usually didn't have anything to do over the summer, so I'd stay home, but with the camp, I was able to actually go outside and do arts and crafts. I was actually able to triple my hobbies list, I learned how to play guitar at the camp," Galitia said.

As for Linda Beigel Schulman - it's all about keeping her son's memory alive.

"I will celebrate Scott's life. I will never mourn his death, and this run will go on as long as we have everyone here," she added.

This year, the memorial fund gifted $283,000 in grants to six sleep away camps, enough for 212 young kids to attend camp.