‘Run for Wayne’ will be Colon Cancer Awareness 5K run and walk
File photos by Tom Rivers: Adam Burlison gets ready to cut the string holding the balloons during the Run for Wayne last April. Mark Moore, the race director, is at right. Adam is the son of the late Wayne Burlison.
ALBION – The fourth annual Run for Wayne, which honors the memory of Wayne Burlison, will return on March 24 as a 5-kilometer run and walk in Albion.
The race, however, will now be formally called “Wayne A. Burlison-Colon Cancer Awareness 5K Run and Walk.”
Burlison was a popular Albion elementary music teacher who also promoted running and fitness in the community. He was 36 when he passed away from colon cancer on March 26, 2014.
The Albion Running Club has organized three “Run for Wayne” events, with the proceeds going towards a scholarship given to graduating seniors and also to a walking trail to be constructed at Bullard Park.
The Running Club is teaming with Oak Orchard Health with the Wayne A. Burlison-Colon Cancer Awareness 5K Run and Walk. Both groups want to raise awareness about colon cancer as the third-leading cause of death by cancer for men and women. Colon cancer is preventable or treatable with the proper knowledge, resources, and early detection.
“We want to unite our voices and educate others while remembering the legacy of a much-loved man,” the Running Club said in an announcement about the race.
The course for the race starts on Clarendon Road by the elementary school and heads to Mount Albion Cemetery before ending at the school’s parking lot.
There will be post-race snacks, overall male and female winners’ prizes, and top 3 winners in 10-year age groups. Each registered participant will also get a runner’s cap with a logo.
Proceeds from the race will go to scholarships in Burlison’s name and towards the walking trail at Bullard.
For more on the event, click here.
