Running of the Pink to be held on Saturday

It’s time for runners and walkers to think pink for Women’s Way, with the fifth annual Running of the Pink set to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“Everything that we raise goes right back to the local Women’s Way chapter,” said event coordinator Jason Holstad.

The event features a 5K and a 10K run, but its 5K walk is the most popular, with children, families and groups of people from local businesses participating in groups. Some people even walk with strollers, Holstad said.

In its first year, only about 30 or 40 people joined the run — numbers which have increased every year to nearly 10 times that, with 298 people participating in 2011.

Holstad and event organizers are anticipating a crowd of 500 this year, with 204 preregistered as of Wednesday morning.

One hundred percent of every entry fee goes to the local Women’s Way, and not one bit leaves the region, nor goes to pay for the prizes or T-shirts for the event, Holstad said.

Last year, participants raised $6,300 for the Women’s Way resource fund, which helps people pay for examinations that detect cancer either in breasts or female-specific organs.

State and federal funding for those exams would normally only go to women ages 40-64 who meet certain income requirements — not men, in whom it is 100 times less common than women —and not women younger than 40 or older than 64.

Funds from the Running of the Pink go to the resource fund, which helps people who fall outside the requirements, or who need examinations or screenings of the breast or female-specific organs that aren’t covered by Women’s Way.

People can apply for up to $500 to help pay for those types of exams, with the typical mammogram costing about $360, said Deb Fischer, public health nurse and Women’s Way coordinator.

“Early detection is the whole key there,” Holstad said.

At the Running of the Pink, prizes will be offered for the largest business team and for the largest family team participating in the event. There will also be trophies for first, second and third place, and door prizes donated by local businesses will be given away.

The registration fee is $25 for adults and $20 for youth age 12 and younger and seniors age 60 and older.

Early packet pickup will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at R.M. Stoudt, with pizza and refreshments available to people signing up.

Registration can also be done prior to the run/walk, which begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at R.M. Stoudt.

Water stations will be placed along the routes for both the 10K run and the 5K walk/run, Holstad said, and refreshments will be available for participants before and after the race.

Printable registration forms are available at www.stoudtcars.com.

For more information, contact Holstad at 800-279-2886 or jholstad@

csicable.net.

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453 or by email

at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags: news, benefit