2020 3rd Annual ABG Run for Life 5K (Virtual)
First, let us thank you for your willingness to honor Anita for her courageous battle as a two time cancer survivor. It means so much to her. As she said Mother’s Day weekend, it is hard to find words adequate to convey her love and gratitude. Over 100 friends from across the country joined in supporting the annual ABG Fun Run. This is our third annual 5K fun “Run-4-Life.” We usually “run” together in Durham, NC but, due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s race was virtual but more amazing than ever. For all of our enthusiastic runners/walkers this weekend, EXERT 360 donated $3 to support breast cancer programs for every mile run/walk as part of the 5K. We tallied 220 miles and took over 420,000 steps.
Congratulations go out to our fastest pace winners Reggie and Chandra, our poster with the best scenic view Christina, our most enthusiastic race poster Jade, our first to register winner Loreatha, and our trivia winner Nimasheena.
Many of you have heard Anita talk about the struggles of women she met during her journey. We host this event to raise awareness about breast cancer and funding to assist women impacted by the disease. All proceeds raised each year are matched by an anonymous donor and donated to a breast cancer assistance program to aid women facing financial challenges after diagnosis. Donations are still coming in, but together we have raised at least $7,000. Thank you, family, and friends.
We are going to donate all proceeds as well as our match gift to a local 501(c)(3) in honor of our angel Stephany Hand-Biggs. We lost Steph on July 6, 2019. Steph and Anita were diagnosed a month apart. They cried and laughed through the ridiculous stuff chemo does to your body -the black fingernails left them in stitches. Steph was the one person who would not accept “I’m fine” in response to her question, “How are you?” We are grateful to the Biggs Family for allowing us (and this village) to honor Steph.
We are forever indebted to every single person who ran, walked, donated, or bought t-shirts to help our cause. As Anita expressed, her heart is overflowing, and Steph is smiling down from heaven. Thank you!
2019 2nd Annual ABG Run for Life 5K and Celebration Crawfish Boil
Walkers and runners from ages 14 to 72 came together on Saturday, May 11th to honor Anita and her courageous battle, increase awareness about reducing cancer risk, and raise money to aid Sisters Network Triangle NC’s, Breast Cancer Assistance Program, for women facing financial challenges after diagnosis.
The weather forecast called for thunderstorms, but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day in Durham for our events. The second annual ABG Run 4 Life 5K and celebration crawfish boil blew past every goal set! We have raised over $4000 (and donations are still coming in); consumed 75 lbs of crawfish; sold all but two of our super cool t-shirts; and formed new bonds in our quest to rid the world of breast cancer. In addition to surpassing our collective goals, many of us met or exceeded personal goals for the run/walk. We may not yet be able to run as fast or far as Atreyus or Brianna; but, we did better than last year. Progress!
In all seriousness, this year was one for the books. We are grateful for all who could join us on Saturday, and for all who could not be there in person but found some way to show support. Without the thoughtful donations that poured in from around the country, we would not have met our financial goal. We would also like to thank all our volunteers who did an excellent job making sure everything went smoothly.
Congrats to all and see you all next year!