When Mt. Ararat High School seniors Cameron Meier and Eagan Eldridge were searching for a Capstone project to do, they knew they wanted to organize a benefit 5K road race.

They decided they would hold a race on Nov. 11 — Veterans Day — and give the proceeds to the Corey E. Garver American Legion Post 202 in Topsham to help local veterans. Tuesday evening they presented the legion with a check for $2,400.

They came up with the idea to hold a flashlight 5K and held the race at Highland Green. There were close to 100 people at the event supporting the cause, including parents and teachers.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into it that you don’t notice when you put your bib number on and run,” said Meier.

It was a good community event and people came together to make sure they succeeded, Eldridge said.

“The more it came together, the more fun we were having,” Meier said.

They couldn’t set up a race registration page online because of their age, so they went around the school with waiver forms and pre-registered 18 people as of the day before the race. In the end they got 73 runners. Even those who didn’t run were giving donations on the blustery day.

The race may return in future years, Meier said.

Eldridge said it was nice to come to the legion’s board of directors meeting Tuesday night where they learned more about the programs the legion offers. It helped put a face on what the duo was trying to do through the 5K.

Donna Eldridge, Eagan’s mother, said the two learned “that you can have great ideas and good intentions, but you have to go through all these steps, and run into walls.”

Eldridge said the only real expense were the glow in the dark T-shirts they made for the event, which they made themselves at low cost.

Post Cmdr. Matt Jabaut thanked the students for the work they did, for thinking about the legion and for taking the time to come talk to them Tuesday about the project. He also talked about some of the programs the legion has to help veterans, such as a legacy project, the Boys State program, and sending boxes of goods to troops overseas.

The legion is supporting the unit that former Mt. Ararat student Corey E. Garver was a member of, and whom the legion is now named after.

“It sounds like you are trying to do a lot of good things,” Meier told him.

Eldridge and Meier said the race may be carried on in the future.

dmoore@timesrecord.com