You wake up and turn off your alarm that reads 6:00 A.M. Filled with excitement, you jump out of bed knowing full well you have a great morning ahead of you. You pack your bag, hop on the metro, walk to Nationals Park, and check in. Today you are set to run in the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s annual Prevent Cancer 5k Walk/Run & Health Fair!
Every year in late September, this event draws more than a thousand people to Nationals Park for a fundraiser to support cancer prevention education, research and more. The reasons why people walk or run the 5k are varied, but the cause and the goals are all the same. Cancer has impacted, in a number of ways, every individual walking, running and volunteering for the event.
For me, this special day represents an opportunity to celebrate and support many of my close family members who have valiantly battled different kinds of cancer. Specifically, I run for my father who won the fight against colon cancer over five years ago.
For the past three years, I ran the 5k with the support of my family and alongside my second family, my fellow American University Spirit teammates. Words cannot express the joy that comes from seeing your two families converge over something so near and dear to your heart. I feel truly lucky to have been given the opportunity to celebrate and fundraise for such an amazing event with some of my favorite people–and all before 11:00 A.M.
My sincere gratitude and appreciation go out to all those organizing this fantastic event. I look forward to taking that metro ride down to Nationals Park in a few weeks for another incredible 5k. So come join me and my amazing teammates to help millions of people across the country Stop Cancer Before It Starts!™
2 Comments
sharon
what time and where ?
Erin O’Reilly
Hi Sharon, the 5k starts from Nationals Park. Check in starts at 7:45am with a 9am race start time. You can find all this info and more at http://www.preventcancer5k.org!