St. Mary’s annual PATH to the Cure 5K walk/run occurred on Sunday Sept. 27 beginning outside of the Big Sandy Superstore Arena.

Registration for the 5k began at 1 p.m., festivities followed at 2 p.m. and the race began at 3 p.m.

A total of 1,787 runners and walkers finished the race. Of the participants, 1,234 were women and 553 were men.

Participants either registered as individuals or as teams to support loved ones that are battling breast cancer, may have lost their lives to breast cancer, or are survivors of the disease.

Runners dressed in fun and creative attire including pink tutus, socks and wigs to show their support of breast cancer.

Fadi Hanna, a 22-year-old male, finished first with a time of 16 minutes and 40.4 seconds. The first female to finish the race was Missy Jordan, 41, with a time of 20 minutes and 14 seconds.

This year marked the 5th year anniversary of the race. Julie Neal, 48, decided to start this event in Huntington.

Neal had never run a 5K, but thought it would be the perfect thing to bring to Huntington.

“I kept thinking ‘gosh what could this money do in Huntington for my neighbor and my friend?’” said Neal. “I had some people contact me and ask if I was doing Susan G. again and they wanted to join my team and I said no I wanted to do something locally.”

Neal contacted St. Mary’s to see if they were interested in helping her make the event possible. Once St. Mary’s agreed, 6 and half years ago, they began planning.

The 1st 5K race was in 2011. Over $262,000 has been raised since the start of this race. The money raised stays in Huntington to help the women in the community. The Pink Ribbon Fund receives 80 percent of the funds, which help under-insured and uninsured women receive screenings mammograms. The other 20 percent of the funds go to the Paul Ambrose Trial for Health, or PATH. Ambrose was a physician in Huntington who was killed in 9/11.

Neal said their goal is to spread awareness of the fund and take advantages of the care they can receive from the fund.

Sarah Dyke, 23, has walked in the race with her mother, Wanda Dyke, a breast cancer survivor, for the past 3 years.

“This is a yearly tradition for my mom and I,” Dyke said. “I love getting to celebrate her being a survivor along with hundreds of other brave women, all while raising awareness for such an important cause.”

Committee members followed by cancer survivors and volunteers crossed the finish line together in a closing ceremony holding the shape of a heart with their hands, symbolizing hope.

Cadi Duplaga can be contacted at [email protected].