Winship 5K breaks donation record as cancer patients stage race indoors

Bad weather on the day of the race forced the cancellation of the 5th annual Winship Win the Fight 5K, but Winship Cancer Institute patients being treated at Emory University Hospital carried on with the spirit and enthusiasm of the race indoors. Wearing hospital gowns and pushing IV poles, more than two-dozen patients and their caregivers participated in a .5K race on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the hospital.

WSB TV reporter Mark Winne served as emcee, and along with doctors, nurses and corporate sponsors from Cox Enterprises and Peach State Freightliner, cheered on patients as they completed 13 laps around each unit.

"Our patients show such courage every day and it was wonderful to see the smiles on their faces as they made something special out of their own Winship .5K," says Walter J. Curran, Jr., MD, Winship's executive director. "We were very disappointed about cancelling the outdoor Winship 5K event, but the safety and well-being of participants is our number one concern."

Despite the change in plans, supporters raised a record amount of money for the Winship 5K with the total closing in on $750,000; donations can be made up until Nov. 16. The money will fund new cancer research projects at Winship, Georgia's only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center.

Peach State’s Tim Reynolds was on hand at the event cheering on the patients as they made their way around the hospital.

“It was a really emotional experience being at this year’s Winship race, even though it didn’t go on as initially planned,” said Tim. “The atmosphere was great, everyone was having a good time, and it felt good that we could still accomplish something despite the bad weather. Hats off to the staff at Winship who put together this whole thing in such a short amount of time. It was a very positive event.”