Avery Hudak, left, won the Carson City Kiwanis Club's Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day 5K last year and will return for this year's event Saturday. The event raises money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and a local scholarship.
Avery Hudak, 22, tied for first place in last year’s Carson City Kiwanis Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day 5K.
While it was a personal accomplishment for the runner, it was also a victory for her mother, who died from pancreatic cancer in 2014.
“Pancreatic cancer has such a high mortality rate,” Hudak said. “Most people don’t know much about it. Bringing awareness to that is really important, especially because it is so devastating to families.”
Hudak, along with family and friends, is planning to return to Saturday’s fourth annual event, the proceeds of which go to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and a local scholarship.
“I go with a group of people who were really supportive of me in my mom’s death,” Hudak said. “A lot of people go because they miss my mom and to support our family in a way.”
In addition to the 5K and children’s runs, the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day also features a bench press competition and golf tournament at the Silver Oak Golf Course.
“We’ve got events for just about everybody,” said founder Robey Willis. “We have a good time while we shed light on this terrible disease.”
The four-person scramble golf tournament begins at 9 a.m. Cost is $90 per person. Registration forms and packets can be picked up 4:30-6:30 p.m. Friday at Silver Oak Golf Course or at www.visitcarsoncity.com.
The tournament will be divided into six divisions by gender and age. Michael Hohl is donating a 2017 Camaro as a prize for a hole in one. A two-person gift certificate to Edgewood Golf Course will be given as prize for guessing tees in a jar.
The bench press championships will be 7-9 a.m. at the south side of the clubhouse. The entry fee is $10 for three lifts, and will be accepted at the event.
The runs begin at 8 a.m. at the clubhouse. Cost is $30 for the 5K, kids 12 and under are $10. Early packet pick-up will be 4:30-6:30 p.m. Friday at the Silver Oak Clubhouse. Packets may also be picked up the morning of the race.
Hudak said she knows her mother, who was a nurse like Hudak, would support the cause.
“She would do it in a heartbeat,” Hudak said. “The hardest part when she got sick was not to be able to help people like she was used to doing.”
For information, call Robey Willis at 775-882-8587 or Stevan Lyon at 775-224-5798.
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