'Providing Hope' | 12th Annual Maryland Half Marathon And 5k Going Virtual This Year
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- This year's Maryland Half Marathon and 5k is going virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The event is celebrating 12 years of "changing lives one mile at a time." It will be held Saturday, May 30, through Monday, June 1.
In February 2017, Gary Gardiner Jr. was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma lymphoma, and after months of intense chemotherapy, he received bad news.
"We received the bad news that, unfortunately, my cancer became resistant to chemo and my only option was CAR T therapy," Gardiner said.
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It's a treatment in which a patient's own cells are genetically altered to attack the cancer.
Gardiner was treated by a team of doctors at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center.
"We're the largest and busiest CAR T center in the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia region," Dr. Aaron Rapoport said.
Within days, Gardiner noticed signs of improvement.
"Within 60 days, we received the good news that I was cancer free," he said. "And I've been cancer free for the past two years since."
Therapies like CAR T are made possible because of the money raised during the Maryland Half Marathon and 5k.
"The funds from the Maryland Half Marathon will not only help to continue to expand and to continue this important therapy for patients, but it will also help us develop the next generation of cell therapy… of therapeutics for patients with a variety of cancers," Dr. Rapoport said.
So this year, it's going virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We know that cancer doesn't take a break, cancer doesn't take the holiday, cancer doesn't stay at home and neither do we," Rapoport said.
The virtual event will give people an opportunity to participate and help in the fight against cancer, and continue changing families lives.
"Providing hope back to the cancer patients and caretakers who need it the most and to generate the revenue that every one of us deserve in order for us to advance cancer treatment," Gardiner said.
If you are interested in joining this year's virtual half marathon and 5k, its not too late to register.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
