Moregantown >> The rain was not an issue for runners this past weekend. In fact, it made for a more exciting experience.
Weaver’s Orchard, Morgantown, held the 3rd Annual Hard to the Core 5k Mud Run this past Saturday. Many families came to support loved ones and run themselves. They ran for the sole cause of cancer.
Charlie Trainer of Reading, a cancer survivor of five years, said that he had a lot of fun and that he enjoyed “the long mud pit the best.”
Families, like Charlie’s, ran together and enjoyed themselves.
Volunteers were sure glad to hear this as most of their goals were for the runners to have a great time, said Vernon Murphy, OneRunTogether founder; Shelly King, volunteer coordinator; and Heather Wanner, volunteer.
OneRunTogether was the organization in charge of the event.
According to their website, oneruntogether.org, “OneRunTogether is dedicated to helping families who are dealing with cancer to handle the financial burdens of the disease.”
Murphy created the organization after his wife Beth had passed away five years ago from breast cancer.
Vernon was not a runner, but he had had trouble sleeping after his wife’s passing, so when a friend suggested running, he gave it a try. Vernon found that running gave him an outlet and helped him to sleep at night.
Vernon says that running helped him to wake up in a way, it got him to find his way out of the “fog”.
Nine months after Beth’s passing, Vernon had gone on a missions trip to Germany. He was asked to give his testimony to American Military families and that is when he realized that God had a reason for everything. Vernon had decided that God had wanted him to help others, he explained.
Vernon said after giving his testimony, “It was very emotional and hard for me, but yet when I was done I knew that God wanted me doing that and somehow I also wanted to help cancer patients.”
This past year, OneRunTogether raised enough money to help out 72 local cancer patients.
“We help all cancers because it doesn’t matter what cancer you have it still the same bills that go for the treatments,” said Vernon.
OneRunTogether does not raise money to give to cancer research though, they give money to the patients themselves. They help to pay for anything a patient needs, from rent, to medical co-pays and even food. One Run Together is a non-profit organization, which means they’re always in need of volunteers, he said.
Vernon made a point to say that the volunteers were a big part of what they do. People volunteer their time and company’s offer what they can in order to do the races at the lowest costs possible, he said.
“We couldn’t do this without all the volunteers. I started this, but people like Ed from Weaver’s Orchard has helped, and we just appreciate them so much,” said Vernon.
King of Morgantown, volunteer coordinator of OneRunTogether, says that she started volunteering because Vernon’s son grew up with her son, so they had known each other for quite some time. Shelly said she also volunteers because she couldn’t think of any place better to volunteer her time.
She loves “watching everyone have so much fun and working with the other volunteers.”
Without the volunteers, raising money would be a lot more difficult and OneRunTogether may not be possible.
Vernon had said his goal was for people to gain awareness of helping others and how that can be fun. The course did not only include mud pits, but also a vineyard, fruit trees, hay bale obstacles, and a Christmas tree farm. OneRunTogether also offers many other ways for people to help the cancer patients.
While the 3rd Annual Hard to the Core Mud Run was the last event of the year for OneRunTogether, Vernon said there was word of new events for this next year. This year they held a golf contest and they plan on doing it again because it was a big success. They also plan on trying a glow run for a different kind of 5K.
For more information or to donate, visit www.oneruntogether.org.