Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition Announces Date for Annual RiverFront Run

Can running 3.1 miles on a cool fall morning with your friends and family actually help save lives? In Albany, it can. The Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition announced today that their third annual RiverFront Run will be held on Saturday, October 21, 2006 in downtown Albany. The RiverFront Run is a local event that promotes a healthy lifestyle, and helps to raise money for the direct support of cancer patients and their families in Southwest Georgia.

This event was the vision of local oncologist, Jose Tongol, M.D. After reading a medical journal that linked a sedentary lifestyle as a risk factor for cancer, he was inspired to create an event that would encourage people to get active and raise awareness about cancer risks.

Last year the RiverFront Run brought more than 600 people from all over the region and raised $30,000. These donations helped to fund patient navigator programs at local hospitals, support a medicine bank for cancer patients, and to start a food bank program for cancer patients and their families.

This year’s event hopes to impact an even larger crowd with the expanded Health and Fitness Expo that will include interactive demonstrations showcasing healthy lifestyle tips for both adults and children. The run will also boast a $1,000 purse with the prize money going to the top three runners.

For more information on this event, please visit www.riverfrontrun.com or call the Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition office at 312-1700.