(if you’re looking for someone in the crowd, here’s a slightly larger version of that clip)
Last night, we told you West Seattle-based Northwest Hope and Healing had 750-plus people signed up for today’s Alki Beach Run 5K run-walk to raise money for its mission of helping breast-cancer patients. Today – just take a look at that first video clip atop this report; we had a great eagle’s-eye view of the start of the race, and in our video, you can see all ONE THOUSAND-PLUS participants stream by – huge turnout! We talked to Northwest Hope and Healing director Shari Sewell during the run/walk, and she told us they had printed up 900-plus bibs, but ran out during registration this morning! Now – did you notice the flag in the video clip? Read on to see what it symbolizes, see a clip of what the flagbearers did just before the run, and hear from the person they walked in honor of – oh, plus, see the first finisher, all ahead:
Those are cheerleaders from West Seattle’s Seattle Lutheran High School — we caught them on video as they leaped exuberantly (and carefully) off an Alki picnic table for a group photo just before the Alki Beach Run, and you can see them in that first video clip, toward the end, carrying the school flag. Their shirts reveal they’re running as Team Dart – that’s in honor of Tracy Dart, a West Seattle woman fighting breast cancer. (We introduced you to Tracy during this report when she and friends spent a day in The Junction raising money before walking in the recent Seattle Breast Cancer 3Day.) Just steps away, we talked briefly to Tracy herself; she didn’t walk today but was there to be a cheerleader herself:
Tracy has been working to get out the message that younger women need to be concerned about breast cancer too – she is just 33 years old. You can follow her fight – successes, challenges, and more – on her blog (where she’s already posted photos of Team Dart finishing the Alki Beach Run today!). Meantime, we don’t have the exact time, or a name, just yet, but we did catch the first runner back across the finish line, barely 12 minutes after the Alki Beach Run began (or so said the timekeeper on our video camera):
Last year, Northwest Hope and Healing had its fundraising run in Lincoln Park – different site, different format, about 200 people participated. Will the Alki Beach Run return next year? we asked Sewell. Her big smile suggested “yes” as much as her affirmative answer. We’ll check later for a final fundraising tally; you can help NWHH any time by going to this link on its website.
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