Saturday, July 9, as many as 700 runners will race in the 34th annual Tri-Span 5K and 10K to benefit the Wilmington Family YMCA’s LIVESTRONG program for cancer survivors.
The race starts at 7 a.m. in the Cotton Exchange parking lot in downtown Wilmington. The 5K course meanders around downtown and the 10K course goes across the Cape Fear River, traversing both the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the Isabel Holmes Bridge. The course also includes a short loop down Battleship Road, where runners will pass by the Battleship USS North Carolina with views of downtown Wilmington across the river.
“It’s a challenging run,” race organizer Dalia Nir said. “It gives the runners a sense of accomplishment.”
But many runners, especially longtime members of Wilmington’s various running clubs, take on the challenge year after year. Nir also expects the race to draw out of town participants, because there are very few other road races this time of year, much less 10K road races.
“I think a lot of the racers like the end of the run,” she admitted, “because it’s so hot and humid.”
Organizers tout the Tri-Span 10K as the only three-bridge 10K course on the east coast, but Nir added another distinction, saying, “We’re probably the only ones who have watermelon at the finish.”
Prizes also boost participation—all age group winners get awards and the first 600 racers to register get tank tops designed by Tom Clifford of Without Limits—but runners also take part to support the race’s beneficiary, the YMCA’s LIVESTRONG program.
LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is a free 12-week wellness program designed to help adult cancer survivors reclaim their health. When cancer survivors are released from medical care, Nir said, they know they need to exercise but they don’t know how to do it safely.
“We take over and help them get back into the community and start their new normal life,” she said. “The participants are put on an exercise program that’s right for them, but they come in as a group and the camaraderie and connections they develop amongst themselves and with the instructors is just amazing.”
Many of the LIVESTRONG participants and instructors will be volunteering at Saturday’s race, and one or two might even participate, Nir said.
To register for the race visit wilmingtonfamilyymca.org/races and to register for the fall session of LIVESTRONG call Dalia Nir at 910-508-0044.
