Registration now open for second annual Derby Days Dash: Event to benefit Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

Published 1:45 pm Monday, June 20, 2011

Get ready to run for a worthy reason next month as the second annual Derby Days Dash in Redmond will be July 10, beginning at 9 a.m.

Organized by Redmond native and Stanford University graduate student, John Kent McCormick Jr., the 5K race will be downtown and part of the city’s annual Derby Days summer festival celebration.

Participants can pre-resgister at here until July 8. The cost is $25 for those 13 years and older and $15 for children 12 years and younger. Walk-up registration on the day of the race is $35 for those 13 and older and $20 for children 12 and younger.

Check-in and walk-up registration for the race will begin 7:45 a.m. on Dash day.

The race will begin in Redmond Town Center at 16250 N.E. 74th St.

McCormick Jr. organized the race in honor of his late father, John Kent McCormick, a 22-year Redmond resident, husband and father of four. Dr. McCormick, an orthopedic surgeon who practiced in Redmond for more than 20 years, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer around Thanksgiving 2006 and lost his battle with the disease almost exactly one year later.

The Redmond Reporter did a feature story on McCormick Jr. and the event last year.

The event will benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN). PanCAN is a nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by the disease.

In 2010, the inaugural race drew 331 participants onto the Sammamish River Trail downtown and raised more than $12,000.

“I was thrilled and humbled by the enthusiasm for last year’s race,” McCormick Jr. said in a press release. “We’ve been working hard ever since preparing for the Derby Dash 2.0 and toward our long-term goal of sustaining a fun Redmond tradition that benefits a vitally important cause.”

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. It is estimated that this year, 43,140 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the country alone and it is one of the only cancers for which the survival rates has not significantly increased over nearly 40 years.

For the second year, Evergreen Orthopedic Center is sponsoring the event so that every dollar of every registration will go towards pancreatic cancer research.

For more information about PanCAN visit www.pancan.org.