BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Maryland Half Marathon organizers are getting ready for next year’s race. But Monday they took a break from planning to give a special award that helped raise nearly $1 million for cancer research.

Gigi Barnett has more.

Maryland’s Half Marathon is the state’s fastest-growing race.

Back in May, organizers marked four years of the run that raises thousands for the University of Maryland’s Greenebaum Cancer Center.

The winner takes home big prizes.

Except this:  It’s the county cup, which is awarded to the county where the winner lives.

This year it goes to Baltimore County.

“The cup is back in its rightful home,” said Kevin Kamenetz, Baltimore County Executive.

This year the half marathon brought in about $260,000, bringing the four-year total to nearly $1 million for cancer research.

The race wound through neighborhoods in Howard and Baltimore counties. Organizers say it wants to include other counties in the race.

“As soon as we eliminate cancer, I’ll be happy to end the race. But that’s not happening anytime soon and we want to get all of the counties involved,” said Michael Greenebaum, marathon co-founder.

“We’re the Maryland Half Marathon. Let’s get all of Maryland involved in this. It’s fun to just sit back and relax and have a little competition,” said Jon Sevel, marathon co-founder.

This is the third time a runner from Baltimore County has won the half marathon. Organizers say every county wants the cup and that competition helps boost the number of runners every year.