Thanksgiving Day 5K in Vernal to raise funds for 2 cancer patients


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VERNAL — They call it The Gobbler.

"It's probably the most laid-back 5K you will ever attend," said Gill Morton, who organizes the annual Thanksgiving Day event with Randi Honeycutt.

Sure, the 3.1-mile course near the Utah State University campus in Vernal is meant to burn off a few calories before that big Thanksgiving meal. But the event — now in its fourth year — serves another purpose, too.

"We thought, 'Well, we're going to workout that day anyway, so why not get a bunch of people together and raise some money?'" Honeycutt said.

Every penny generated by registration fees and donations goes directly to someone in the Uinta Basin who is battling cancer. Honeycutt and Morton choose a different recipient each year.

"We love to support our own. We love that we get to choose local families," Morton said.

Thursday's run will benefit 10-year-old Samantha Clark and Riley Miller, who celebrated his 60th birthday last week.

Samantha was back in the hospital Tuesday, her mother said, struggling a bit in her fourth fight with cancer in eight years. Originally diagnosed at age 2, Samantha endured 38 radiation treatments when she was 6 years old to try to eradicate cancer in her brain, Kimberly Clark said. This time, the cancer has returned in a lymph node.

"She's going to have surgery at the beginning of the month to have the tumor removed," Clark said, adding that doctors also plan to remove Samantha's spleen.

"We're just so grateful to live in such an amazing community," Clark said. "It's so overwhelming to go through something like this. People who don't even know us have been so generous."

Miller, who is battling cancer for the third time, is also grateful for the outpouring of support.

"I thought I was just a regular guy, just a nobody," he said Tuesday while undergoing chemotherapy at Ashley Regional Medical Center.

"All these people come forward and they're doing all kinds of stuff for me and my wife," Miller said. "It makes it nice, makes it nice to know that people really care."

Miller admitted though that he finds it a bit ironic that people are going to run to show their support for him.

"That tickles me because I don't run," he said with a laugh. "I've tried, but unless something bad is chasing me, I don't run most of the time."

The number of people participating in The Gobbler has doubled each year, according to Honeycutt. More than 500 people turned out on Thanksgiving Day 2014 to raise money for another local cancer patient. Organizers say this year won't be any different.

"You do not underestimate this community," Morton said. "They're amazing. They will come out to support two local families."

To register for The Gobbler or to make a donation, visit www.imathlete.com and search for The Gobbler Thanksgiving 5K.

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Geoff Liesik

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