Dave’s Dewey Dash set for Aug. 9

The fourth annual Dave’s Dewey Dash will begin at 7:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, at Northbeach in Dewey Beach, marking another year of the event’s mission to spread awareness of sudden cardiac arrest, raise money to buy AEDs for local businesses and honor a Dewey resident gone too soon.

Laura Ashby organized the inaugural event, a 5K walk/run, in 2021 to honor her late son Dave, a Dewey resident who died of sudden cardiac arrest in his sleep two years prior at age 28. She continues to run the event with the help of Races2Run and several local business owners.

“I don’t want him to ever be forgotten,” Ashby said. “And I don’t want anybody else to have to go through this.”

Last year, Ashby used the funds raised to purchase an AED tower for the Town of Dewey Beach, which has been installed outside under cover at The Starboard, where it can be accessed at all times by anyone who needs it. Whenever the tower door is opened, a notification is sent to town officials to ensure help is on the way, she said.

After this year’s race, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the tower to inform residents and visitors of its location and availability. The ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. at The Starboard.

“I want to let people know that Dewey Beach has this, and that we’re protecting hearts 24-7,” Ashby said. “It’s accessible, it’s outside, it’s under cover. People can use it even if the restaurants are closed. People are still around, and it’s a very busy town.”

She said that using an AED is fairly self-explanatory, as the machine provides verbal step-by-step instructions once turned on and has pictures illustrating what to do. She also emphasized that Delaware’s Good Samaritan law protects people who, in good faith and without compensation, use an AED for emergency care, even if their rescue attempts are unsuccessful.

An AED could be the difference between life and death. According to the American Red Cross, for every minute that immediate CPR and use of an AED are delayed for a person experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, the person’s survival chances decrease by 10%.

With the money from previous years’ events, Ashby has purchased 28 AEDs to donate to organizations and businesses, including the Dewey Beach Police Department, Children’s Beach House, Starboard Raw, Starboard Claw, Premier Community Association Management, Woody’s, Dewey Beer Company, Rusty Rudder, Gary’s, DR’s Lawn Maintenance and others.

She also funded the construction of a memorial in Dave’s honor, which includes a couple of benches and an educational plaque with a QR code linked to information about sudden cardiac arrest. The memorial is located at the corner of Bellevue Street and Bayard Avenue, near the home where Dave used to live with his brother Mike, who still lives there.

This is Ashby’s second year partnering with Connecticut-based nonprofit In A Heartbeat, which aims to prevent death from sudden cardiac arrest and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by raising awareness, funding research and donating AEDs to places in need. 

“It’s not something I’ve done alone,” Ashby said of the event. “I did it with a bunch of people who helped to fund it all, and I am so grateful for that.”

To register for the race, go to raceroster.com/events/2025/97684/3rd-community-matters-foundation-5k. 

To donate, go to inaheartbeat.networkforgood.com/projects/251512-2025-dave-ashby-memorial-aed-fund.