A sea of walkers and runners in “scuba blue” T-shirts washed over downtown Cedar Rapids, Saturday, Oct. 4. They were the record 16,682 people registered for the 35th annual Especially for You Race Against Breast Cancer at Mercy Medical Center, narrowly surpassing last year’s previous record of 16,679.
The race raised more than $529,000 in registration fees for the Especially for You fund, which provides financial assistance for breast and gynecological cancer screenings and services for individuals in need. Since its inception, the fund has helped more than 15,300 individuals with 44,000 services in Linn County.
According to a news release, the runners and walkers came from 514 cities and 41 states, as well as British Columbia and Guatemala. Among the registrants were 1,035 cancer survivors, including 891 breast cancer survivors and 144 survivors of other cancers.
General Mills and Mercy Medical Center co-founded the race, which featured a 5K run, 5K walk and one-mile family fun walk. The course wound through downtown Cedar Rapids and finished at Mercy’s Hall-Perrine Cancer Center, where participants enjoyed music, kids’ activities, food trucks and a health fair.
The race has grown dramatically since 1991, when 1,078 people participated in the inaugural event. The race honors Sandy Knight, a Whittier resident and General Mills employee who died of breast cancer in July 1991. Knight wanted to establish a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness and education.
This year’s event drew 585 registered teams. Mercy Medical Center fielded the largest business team with 1,195 members, followed by OB-GYN Associates with 275.
Race results will be posted at www.especiallyforyourace.org.
