Just in time to kick off Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November, the Kosten Foundation will host its 15th annual Kick It 5K, a fundraiser presented by Baptist Memorial Health Care for pancreatic cancer research.
Runners and walkers can participate in a 5K or a one-mile walk, and afterward, they’ll enjoy One & Only BBQ, live entertainment with MC Ron Olson, Mempops, and a complimentary photo booth.
Since the race’s start 15 years ago, Alan Kosten, chairman of the Kosten Foundation, says, “It’s been successful, so successful that we’ve donated over $3 million for pancreatic cancer research over the years, and we have a support group meet once a month at the Cordova Library.”
The race and the Kosten Foundation began in honor of Kosten’s brother Herb, who died from pancreatic cancer. He was an athlete, played baseball for the University of Alabama and the Cincinnati Reds, and was a great tennis player, Alan says. “He taught me everything I know about playing ball. He was definitely my best friend and mentor,” he adds. “Never heard him say a cross word about anybody. … Every movie he saw was the greatest of all time.”
When Herb was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer over 20 years ago, there was no support group for him, Alan says. “When he was going through his 11-month period between diagnosis and death, he really had nobody to talk to in Memphis. It’s pretty lonely feeling when you can’t find anybody else that’s going through some of the things that you are.”
Yet now, thanks to the Kosten Foundation, there’s a support group in Memphis that even has members who Zoom in from around the country. “There’s not a cure for the disease,” Alan says, “but treatment is a lot better nowadays, people can live longer with quality lives than they could when my brother died 20 years ago; that part is changed, but there’s still no early detection.”
But hope is the message the Kick It 5K wants to spread. “The major part of our event is what we call a survivorship ceremony for the race, and … we call up all the survivors, ask how many years or months or days has somebody has been a survivor. We also mention people who have died from the disease in the last year. To me, that’s the most important part of our Sunday event.
“We have a lot of survivors. I mean, this is a tough disease, and a lot of people don’t think there are survivors. Quite frankly, we have a lot of survivors out there. We want to show the people who are going through it that there is some hope out there.”
Register to run, walk, or support at kickit5k.raceroster.com.
Kosten Foundation Kick It 5K, Shelby Farms Park, Sunday, October 26, 1 p.m., $39.44-$44.79.
