Sponsored by the Four Seasons Hotel, the event raises about a half a million dollars for pediatric cancer research and survivor programs at Children's Hospital
"One of out four children who have cancer are treated at CHOP, so it really makes a difference, but the most important thing for the Parkway Run is all our money that we earn stays local," Paul Urian, Parkway Run chairman, said.
For many who take part in this event, the cause is very personal.
Dolores Davis lost her 22-month-old grandson to cancer and students from Lower Merion and Harriton High Schools were running in his honor.
"Seeing what he went through, you don't want anyone to go through that or have to endure what my family did and what he did, especially," Davis said.
Over 350 students and faculty from Cardinal O'Hara high school showed support for their classmate and cancer survivor Dan Hammond.
"It's just great to have the support and people just helping out each other," Hammond said.
"I think it's just overwhelming; we feel like we're not doing it alone, and we're faced with this everyday, and we've been going through it for about seven years, and the kids we see down there and their families, it's just an exciting, hopeful thing," Jodi Hammond, Dan's mother, said.
The weather wasn't the best, but it didn't dampen the spirits of the runners who perhaps could think of no better cause than to battle childhood cancer.
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