News

Race for the Cure

The Beckman Laser Institute fielded over 25 runners, walkers and race course volunteers for the 17th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at Fashion Island Newport Beach on Sunday, September 28, 2008. Together with UCI Health Sciences Advancement, the BLI race participants represented the largest portion of the UCI team that attended the event. The Orange County Komen chapter hosted the half-day event as a campaign to raise breast cancer awareness and more than $3 million in research funds. The event kicked off with an all women's 5k (3.2 miles) race, followed by a parade and tribute to breast cancer survivors. The day concluded with a health and fitness expo which immediately followed the mid-morning co-ed 5k race. Overall, the Komen Race for the Cure drew an estimated crowd of over 35,000 with 26,000 registered participants.

"It was really early. It was cold and on a Sunday morning. But it was fun," said Esmaeil Heidari, one of the BLI graduate students participating in the race. LAMMP/NTROI Project Administrator Allen Sabio, team captain for the BLI team, noted, "We had a pretty good turnout in registering team runners and in acquiring pledge donations." The BLI race team raised $2,589.65. The most notable fundraising achievement went to BLI Administrative Assistant Devilyn Callian, who raised more than a third of the BLI team's total pledge contribution. Other noteworthy fundraising performances belonged to Patricia Tromberg, Brian Hill, and Austin Moy. "I think we represented the BLI very well to the many thousands of people that attended the event. I'm very proud of our team members who contributed their extra time and effort to help raise awareness and pledges for breast cancer," said BLI Director Bruce Tromberg, one of the race participants in the co-ed 5k race.