About 600 people ran or walked Sunday in Fitzy’s 5K Run in Wyomissing, according to event organizers.
“Every year it seems like we grow a little bit more,” said Michael Fitzgerald, who started the run 10 years ago after losing his 20-year-old daughter, Lauren, to a brain tumor.
Fitzgerald hadn’t yet counted up how much money the race raised for Lauren’s Foundation, which helps families with terminally ill children and provides scholarships, but said he believes it was about $30,000.
“Our revenue is like 90 percent on this day,” Fitzgerald said.
The run began at 10 a.m. at the Stone House Park and a 0.3 mile fun run began at 11:15 a.m.
Because this was the 10th year the run has been held and Halloween would have been Lauren’s 30th birthday, it was an extra-special event.
“It’s a big year for us,” he said. “We did different things this year in honor of this. Some nice new things to acknowledge 10 years of doing this.”
In addition to a costume contest, there were inflatable moon bounces and obstacle courses for the kids. Race winners received laser-engraved medals.
Fitzgerald said the highlight was the people impacted by his daughter’s life and the foundation.
Lauren was a organ donor and her lungs went to a woman who lived seven years longer than doctor’s originally diagnosed, Fitzgerald said. Her son was present at the race and spoke, as well as a family “adopted” by the foundation, a single woman with a son who has muscular dystrophy, he said.
The most meaningful part is “hearing people talk who are benefiting from the foundation,” Fitzgerald said. “That was really nice.”