CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A popular Charleston 5-mile run that raises awareness about colorectal cancer is returning for its 20th year this weekend.
The Charleston Area Medical Center Foundation will host the Run For Your Life 5-mile run and 2-and-a-half-mile walk for colorectal– also known as colon cancer– awareness and prevention.
The event will be held this Saturday, June 15 beginning at Haddad Riverfront Park at 8 a.m. It’s in conjunction with the city’s FestivALL event that will be happening at the same time.
CAMC Foundation Development Officer and director of the race Tamerra Gilmore said West Virginia is increasing in numbers of this kind of cancer and it currently ranks second per 100,000 people to be diagnosed with it.
“They’re estimating that in 2024 colorectal cancer will be the leading cause of cancer deaths in men under the age of 50 and second among women of the same age,” Gilmore said.
CAMC Foundation President Bryan Cummings said while it’s the 20th year the race has been held in Charleston, it’s the 14th year of CAMC hosting it under their management.
He said prior to their presence surrounding the race, it was started by community members passionate about honoring a loved one who had passed away from the disease.
“A group of community members started the race in honor a friend who had passed away Jody Jividen, and obviously as we’ve lost individuals to the disease over the years we’ve tried to recognize others that have been engaged with us, Chris Stadelman, most recently, someone a lot of our listeners know about,” Cummings said.
Cummings said the race is a way to raise funds that help better support colorectal cancer patients and cover screening costs to boost preventative measures against the disease.
He said the race itself is a challenging one if you’re not used to running 5Ks as it takes participants up to the Spring Hill Cemetery and back down.
“One of the things I always try to tell people about the route is if you’ve never been in Spring Hill Cemetery the view of the city is just astounding there, so for those people that can do it we encourage them to, for those that want to come out and join us for a walk we have a 2.5 mile walk that’s a part of the route as well,” he said.
Cummings said nearly 500 participants are registered so far.
To make registering easier on the day of the event, they encourage people to drop by the CAMC Cancer Center to pre-register the day before on Friday, June 14. They will have tables set up at the Breast Cancer side from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. that day.
You can also register by going to camcfoundation.org.
Cummings encourages more to register as it’s for a very good cause in their efforts to beat colorectal cancer.
“It is top of mind for us, for the CAMC Foundation and all of the patients that we’re caring for at our cancer center, we want to do everything we can to eradicate this as quickly as possible,” Cummings said.
Participants will also get a free t-shirt displaying colorectal cancer awareness and prevention information.