Event Description
WE are so excited for the 5th Annual Brain Cancer Awareness 5K!!
Registration is now open for 8.18.18! Run, walk, volunteer or just come and hang out!
If you are not able to attend. Please consider donating. 100% of the profits go to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute for research to bring an end to this horrible disease!
If you’d like to mail us a check, send it to:
Brain Cancer Awareness 5K, Limited
1985 Lincoln Way, Suite 23 Box 262
White Oak, PA 15131
Or you can donate online at
https://www.crowdrise.com/2018-brain-cancer-awareness-5k
To donate to a particular team, please use the above Crowdrise link.
We appreciate your support!!
Last Year's Event
Thank you to everyone who participated in last year's event. Thanks to your participation and support from our generous sponsors, we have donated $160,000 to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute to support brain cancer research over the past four years!
How is this 5K different?
Truthfully, the fifth annual Brain Cancer Awareness 5K is pretty much just like every 5K out there. If you choose to sponsor, run or walk, which we hope you do, here is what you get:
- Beautiful scenery – Our course is nestled in the heart of White Oak Park.
- Fantastic volunteers – Some of us are related, some of us met by coincidence, and some of us just want to help. Whomever you meet-when you are checked in or receive a cup of water at one of our convenient rest stops-you will be well taken care of.
- A really cool shirt – Just what every runner and walker secretly hopes for when they are lacing up their tennies, another awesome shirt! Designed by a friend and printed by yet another friend, all registered walkers and runners will receive the official Brain Cancer Awareness 5K t-shirt. And guess what? When you wear our shirt, you will help to spread awareness about brain cancer, for which we thank you.
- A little bit of awareness about brain cancer – Yes, we are shamelessly going to sneak in some education. Before having a family member or friend diagnosed with brain cancer, none of us knew much about it. We don’t expect you to walk away a neurosurgeon, but we do want to make you aware of the signs and symptoms of brain cancer.
To learn more, we encourage you to visit UPMCCancerCenter.com/braincancer.
What you will not get:
- You will not get dyed a rainbow of colors, chased by zombies, or be required to scale walls using your Herculean strength. There are some other pretty great 5Ks that already provide these services. We should know, because many of us have participated in those events too.
Why should you sponsor, run or walk?
That is up to you. These were the original reasons that we do this:
Meet Dorothy Pollack. She is why we are doing this. Dorothy was a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, Girl Scout leader, bus tour aficionado, friend, and collector of rare light houses. Just kidding. She loved light houses and so she did her best to buy them all. Just ask her husband, Joe. Seriously-go ahead and ask him. He will be the handsome, spry 80 something year old passing out water at one of the rest stops.
In late 2013, Dorothy began to have trouble getting around and was easily irritated. Then in mid-January 2014, she fell. Being a stroke survivor, her family assumed it was another stroke and rushed her to the ER, where an MRI revealed a large brain tumor. Following surgery, her tumor was diagnosed as a treatment resistant GBM or glioblastoma – a cancerous form of brain cancer.
On February 27, 2014, Dorothy lost her battle with brain cancer surrounded by her loving family.
Barb is why we are doing this. In 1985, Barb was an active 21 year old young woman, totally immersed in living life and making plans for the future, when she began to feel dizzy and unsteady on her feet at different times of the day. She decided it was time to see her doctor who recommended further testing. Nothing could have prepared Barb and her family for the devastating diagnosis; she had a non-cancerous brain tumor. Following surgery and 30 treatments of radiation over a period of six weeks, Barb was back to “normal” life. .
Fast forward 28 years later, which encompasses a ton of great memories, including marriage to a great man and four wonderful children, Barb began having severe headaches and a few memory lapses over a period of only a few months. Testing revealed a brain tumor that was diagnosed as a GBM or glioblastoma. After two surgeries and several different types of radiation and chemotherapy, Barb succumbed to the disease in 2014.
We wouldn’t be here without Barb. It was her determination to bring awareness to brain cancer that brought our group together, and it is her memory and the memory of all those who have battled brain cancer courageously that keep us motivated to bring an end to brain cancer.
Since starting this event, many other individuals and families, affected by brain cancer have come to our attention and have unwittingly joined in this effort. To all of them, we also do what we do.
Our collective goal for this 5k
We also are doing this for others who may have this disease. We want to bring awareness to this type of cancer. GBM is a deadly disease, and one very few people hear about.
Event Proceeds
Event proceeds will benefit brain cancer research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
