Yesterday’s marathon and half marathon events raised an estimated $18.6M for the fight against cancer. An estimated 20,000 runners and walkers turned out for the fourth annual event in San Francisco. Over those for years and estimated $60 million has been raised. Racers came from every state in the US and from 18 countries. For those who couldn’t make the trip to San Francisco, about 3300 people with special shoes from Nike were able to participate in a “virtual marathon,” where the shoes tracked how far they ran.
Entrance into the race was a challenge in itself - the half-marathon sold out in 10 hours, and the full-marathon in about three days. The Leukemia Society’s Team in Training, had about 5300 participants; team members gained entry to the race by reaching set goals for donations to the cause.
Lauri Thompson of Boise, Idaho won the marathon (3:01:26) and Giovanna Mandy won the half marathon (1:20:54).
