The running community continues to rally around Molly Offstein, an Elon University cross-country and track runner, after she was struck by a vehicle while out for a run on March 6.

Following the accident, the freshman was rushed to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with serious injuries to her legs, back, and head and was put into a medically induced coma. This week Molly is taking small steps on her road to recovery.

According to her mother, Laura Byrnes, Molly is currently, “…out of her coma, through one of two pelvis surgeries, and starting to show some progress neurologically from a traumatic brain injury.”

A vehicle struck Molly while she was out on a morning run around campus. The car was traveling under the speed limit of 55 miles per hour at the time she was struck and had a green light, investigators from the Town of Elon Police Department said. The driver isn’t expected to face charges.

In the weeks that followed, friends, teammates, and runners across the country have showed their support.

A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family morally and financially. The original goal was $20,000, but in just 16 days, more than 500 donors have raised $43,805 for her cause.

“We can never repay what it means to us,” Evan Offstein, Molly’s father, told Runner’s World by phone.

In addition, a social media campaign broke out in support of Molly when Jeannie Wolodkin, who is a close family friend from Frostsburg, Maryland, started a Facebook page in her honor. First reported by the News & Record, Wolodkin placed a pair of running shoes on a flag-pole outside her home, and the campaign #ShowMeYourShoes was born.

According to News & Record, people from at least 30 states and even eight different countries have posted a picture of their running shoes in support of Molly.

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“The #ShowMeYourShoes campaign showed me how big the running community is and how much I underestimated the tightness of the running community,” Evan said.

Molly’s parents attribute the reach their daughter’s accident has had to her “high character and high constitution.”

Those characteristics are some of the main reasons Molly’s cross-country coach at Elon University, Nick Polk, recruited her. Molly was the valedictorian of Mountain Ridge High School and the state champion in Maryland for the 1600 meters. She is also her high school’s record holder in seven events between cross country and track.

“She is everything you would want in a student athlete,” Polk told Runner’s World by phone. “She has great character, a strong work ethic, and is one of those team members you never have a problem with.”

Reflecting back on the week Molly was injured, Polk said it affected everyone on the team. Molly’s teammates spent most of their time at the hospital and “wrapped their arms around the family.”

Now, Polk said there has been a shift in his team’s mentality as it recently began its spring season.

“Everything we do is for Molly—Miles for Molly. It has transitioned from sadness to not taking for granted everyday we are able to be out here and do what we do,” Polk said.

With a long road of recovery ahead, the Offstein family is extremely humbled and grateful.

“Runners need to be patient. That is one of the things that made Molly a great runner, and that’s what we need to do going forward—be patient,” Evan said. “Right now, Molly is taking steps in the longest race of her life.”