Maryland Half Marathon & 5K Supports Cutting-Edge Research at UMGCCC

May 26, 2022

The Maryland Half Marathon & 5K will return for its 14th year on June 11, 2022, to support cutting-edge cancer research at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC) at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). The race will be virtual again this year in light of continuing concerns about COVID-19. Registration is open at www.mdhalfmarathon5k.org.

"Cancer doesn't take a break, and neither do we," said Michael Greenebaum, the Maryland Half Marathon founder who is a member of the UMGCCC Board of Advisors. "This is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to 'run with a purpose' to raise money for the amazing research being conducted at this nationally recognized cancer center."

Greenbaum said 100 percent of the net proceeds fund research at UMGCCC one of a select group of cancer centers in the country to earn comprehensive designation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

"We would love to be able to hold in-person races this year, but we want to keep everyone safe from COVID-19,” said Greenebaum, president of Greenebaum Enterprises who is also Vice Chair of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Board of Visitors. "And what better year to support the cancer center, where doctors and nurses have been on the frontline for more than two years caring for cancer patients while coping with all of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Maryland Half Marathon & 5K, which started in 2009, has raised over $5 million for research at the cancer center.

"We are extremely grateful for the tremendous support that we receive each year from the community, even as we were moved to a virtual format in the midst of the pandemic," said Kevin J. Cullen, MD, UMGCCC's director and the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Distinguished Professor of Oncology at UMSOM. "The funds that we've raised have been crucial to helping us continue to investigate new ways to fight cancer."

"Many people's lives have been touched by cancer. Through research, we are making great strides in developing more effective treatments, identifying better ways to detect and diagnose cancer, advancing our understanding of how cancer grows and spreads, and in some cases, even curing certain cancers that once were not survivable," Dr. Cullen said. "But, despite this progress, we still have much more work to do if we want to defeat cancer."

This year's virtual race comes on the heels of the May 13 groundbreaking for a $219 million building that will become the new home of the cancer center once it is completed in mid-2025. The nine-story structure the Roslyn and Leonard Stoler Center for Advanced Medicine will be built onto the front of UMMC's existing downtown campus at 22 South Greene Street. This expansion will enhance inpatient and outpatient care and research at the cancer center.

To take part in the virtual race, participants can walk or run in their own neighborhoods and communities or even on a treadmill on Saturday, June 11, through Monday, June 13 and submit their time online to race organizers. The registration fee is $50 for either the half marathon or 5K, and people who sign up will receive a T-shirt, rally towel, medal and electronic link to print a bib. They will also receive a link to upload their times, which will be posted on the Maryland Half Marathon & 5K website.

Those who would like to support the cancer center can raise funds or donate to a team or individual runner. Teams will be competing for the largest number of members or members representing the largest number of states.

Doctors and nurses at UMGCCC have also selected their favorite #runwithapurpose running songs.

Sponsors include St. John Properties, Greenebaum Enterprises and BRG Healthcare.

UMGCCC is one of two NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in Maryland and 52 in the United States. It offers innovative approaches to diagnosing and treating all types of cancer, conducts cutting-edge research to bring the latest advances in cancer treatment directly to patients and provides cancer screening and patient education services. The cancer center is nationally recognized for its excellence in patient care and multidisciplinary translational research program.

In recent years, UMGCCC has pioneered advances in cancer treatment, including:

• Development of aromatase inhibitors to treat breast cancer by the late Angela Brodie, PhD
• Invention of the GammaPod, a new radiation treatment option for early-stage breast cancer that can reduce the number of treatments and spare healthy tissue from radiation
• Development of promising new drug compounds and immunotherapies, such as a next-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

For more information about the Maryland Half Marathon & 5K, visit www.mdhalfmarathon5k.org. To learn more about the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, go to www.umgccc.org.