When David Schorr watched wife Bridgette and a small group of friends cross the finish line of the 2011 Frogtown Trail Challenge, he knew he wanted to join her in this year’s race.

“The day you were able to sign up to run it, David made sure both he and Bridgette were signed up to run this 10-mile course, talking a few of his friends into it as well,” says Stacie Garramone, who with husband Michael has known the Schorrs for 25 years.

Described by friends as charitable and giving, Schorr was a founding member of Alchemy3 in Alpharetta and an active resident of Cumming.

But on Sept. 13, the 40-year-old father of three was killed in a single-engine plane crash near Lake Lanier, just one month before the Frogtown race.

His number, which his wife plans to wear, will still cross the finish line Saturday. However, it will be accompanied by more than 100 people sporting orange shirts and running as “Team David” in his honor.

“Everyone running this race knows how important exercise was to David,” Garramone said. “A lot of them would be staying home on Saturday, but everyone wearing the orange shirt will be there because David can’t.”

According to Dana Baum, a neighbor of the Schorrs for six years, the shirt’s color carries extra significance.

“He wore orange quite frequently, and he was a really positive guy,” she said. “I mean orange is a really bright and happy color, and it sort of became David’s color.”

Garramone recalled how someone had sent them the meaning of the color orange after Schorr’s passing.

“Orange brings spontaneity and a positive outlook on life. It keeps us motivated and helps us look on the bright side of life,” she said. “We all agreed that the meaning behind the color was David to a ‘T.’”

Schorr’s reach extends outside of Georgia as well. Friends from as far away as San Diego, his hometown of Las Vegas and Hong Kong will be wearing “Team David” shirts.

Frogtown race organizer Kirk Childs is among those touched by Schorr’s story. While timing a race at Red Top Mountain near Cartersville a few weeks ago, Childs met a friend of Schorr’s, who shared the details.

“I thought about it for a second and I said, ‘You know what, we need to dedicate the race to him,’” he said. “And she just put her hands over her mouth and said, ‘Are you serious?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, why not. If [the race] was that important to him, let’s do that.’

“She talked to his wife, who was really touched, and they’ve since put together a team of over 100 people. Anybody who’s on that team goes straight to me, and I’ve given them a discount.”

Childs will announce the team and briefly tell Schorr’s story before the race starts Saturday.

According to Garramone, the effort started as a small group of 10 or 15 people, but has since grown to more than 100.

“I don’t know if we actually expected the kind of turnout that we’ve had, it was just kind of we’re going to do this,” she said. “And then next thing you knew, there was tons and tons of people who were signing up and getting shirts to represent him at Frogtown.”

She added that the Schorr family and friends have been “blown away by how much love has been shown.”

“Our team name is ‘Team David,’ but we’re also calling ourselves the ‘Frogtown ACES’ because David’s children are named Aliza, Caitlyn and Ethan and then the last name is Schorr, so his children were always called his ACES,” Baum said.

“There’s sort of a double meaning there. Obviously, being an ‘ace’ at something, and also we’re running for David and also his children. So it means everything to us that we go on and we complete the race for David.”

Aliza, 11, will be running the 4-mile race, while siblings Caitlyn, 9, and Ethan, 4, will cheer the team on at the finish line.

“This is something David always wanted, for his friends and family to get involved with exercise,” Garramone said. “This is David, completely. He lived for exercising and working out and pushing himself to extreme limits, and he would be so extremely happy.”

“I know he’s going to be smiling down and so excited and happy to see all these people doing this for him.”