"C" is for Cockerham: "C" is for Cure

Last weekend we took a road trip to Texas for Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas. The event was organized in honor of my friend, Stevie, who was diagnosed with brain cancer last year (See "C" is for Crowder). They expected about 500 people to run and fundraising of about $25,000 from registrations, donations, and sponsorships. The primary beneficiary of Head for the Cure is the Brain Tumor Trials Collaborative (BTTC), a group of highly respected and dedicated doctors in a network of renowned medical centers. Led by MD Anderson Cancer Center, the BTTC has grown to more than 15 member institutions and has experienced unparalleled advancements in the research of alternative treatments of malignant brain tumors. Research studies, also known as clinical trials, are being conducted to learn of promising advances to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatments that are safe and effective. Funds raised through the Head for the Cure Foundation provided the seed money to help launch the BTTC, and Head For the Cure remains committed to supporting the BTTC and its mission with ongoing financial support.

Registrants were able to create teams and do team fundraising too. We wore our pink and black shirts to support Stevie. Many people were inspired to run in honor of someone they knew, and they had a nice ceremony after the event to honor several survivors, including Stevie. It was very touching, and TEAM STEVIE had the largest team and raised the most funds! Hopefully some of the money raised at this event will help researchers find a cure! I also have to give a big shout out to Shari, Dusti, Tyler, and Tricia for making the event such a huge success. Your hard work really paid off, ladies. The event was awesome and so well organized!

The final results for the Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas event were astounding:

2,219 registered runners (500 expected, remember?!)
126 volunteers
283 TEAM STEVIE members$11,415 TEAM STEVIE fundraising
$152,000 total fundraising for brain cancer research at MD Anderson (a little more than the $25K they hoped for, right?!)

This was Tully's first 5K to complete, and we definitely didn't set any records. As a matter of fact, we walked with John and Grammy, but it was a lot of fun. I'm hoping to restart the Couch to 5K program I was doing during my pregnancy (See "C" is for C25K) and complete a 5K sometime this year. I was able to jog easily starting a couple weeks ago, but Tully's hectic schedule hasn't allowed for much free time for exercise. Hopefully that changes soon!

Here are some more photos from the event. John did an awesome job capturing everything, especially when we were doing the actual 5K. Thanks, sweets!