Running for Your Lives at the Runyon 5K

by | Nov 10, 2015 | Downtown Living, News

Jeff 2

Photo: Courtesy of Jeff Simmons

More than 2,500 people will run through Yankee Stadium on November 15th for a good cause – and among them is a Downtown woman who wants to make a difference.

Kristen Petherbridge will be taking part in her first 5K – the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation’s seventh annual Runyon 5K. Kristen was moved by Damon Runyon’s support for young researchers.

“My family has been affected by cancer in a number of different ways,” Says Petherbridge, who lives in Battery Park City. “A couple of years ago, I lost my aunt, who was also my godmother, to a very rare form of lung cancer and there wasn’t much they could do.”

Upon learning about Damon Runyon, she said, “I saw it as a good cause. They fund so much research and I would do anything I could to raise money for Damon Runyon.”

The foundation, which is headquartered in downtown near Bowling Green, funds early career cancer researchers who have the energy, drive and creativity to become leading innovators in their fields.

Since 1946, the nonprofit has invested more than $287 million in the best young minds in the country and many of the more than 3,460 funded scientists have gone on to make breakthroughs in the way we prevent, diagnose and treat many forms of cancer.

In fact, more than a dozen of the scientists also will be participating in the Runyonk5K on November 15th. Among them is Aaron Viny, a researcher at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

“Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation supports me and other physician scientists focus on changing the way we think about and ultimately treat cancer,” Dr. Viny said, “Particularly as I transition from trainee to one day running a lab, these years of support are pivotal.”

Dr. Viny is researching genetic programming and epigenetics in leukemia as compared to normal blood development. He adds, “I am running on November 15th to raise money and awareness for cancer research and to show my incredible gratitude to the Damon Runyon organization.”

More than 2,300 baseball fans, runners, walkers, cancer survivors and their friends and family members took part last year. The Runyon 5K has raised more than $3.5 million for cancer research since its inception in 2009. All donations raised by participants will directly support the nation’s most brilliant young scientists, pursuing cures for all forms of cancer.

Ms. Petherbridge, who has lived downtown for the last four and a half years, is running with colleagues from her financial firm near Wall Street. A financial regulator, she will be accompanied by her fiancée, Craig Caban.

This will be her first 5K, and in a venue that both of them love.

“We support the hometown teams,” she says. “I’ve always loved the Yankee Stadium. It will be pretty cool to run down to the field.”

She also concedes another personal reason why the 5K will help her: they are trying to get in shape for their wedding next summer.

“This event will motivate us,” she says. “It will definitely be the experience of a lifetime.”

If you want to support her – or any other participant – you can visit here. 

-by Jeff Simmons 

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