Through the Years of the FUNd Run with Becca Hughes and Kirsten Dean

Through the Years of the FUNd Run with Becca Hughes and Kirsten Dean

By Misty McMillan

People at a 5K race start line, under a banner. Spectator walks in front.

There aren’t a lot of existing records for the early years of the FUNd Run. According to Becca and Kirsten, and I can attest, once you execute a few of these races, they all start to run together. It wasn’t until we reviewed some pictures that Becca, then director of the Foundation, remembered there was a 5K and a 10K that first year on November 16, 2002.

“I would have never thought we had a 5K and 10K that first year and that it was in November,” said Becca.

Having the FUNd Run in November would mean it came just one month after the Ritz that year which was held on October 5.

That first FUNd Run course started at the hospital at the Dulin Center and meandered through the St. Andrews University campus.

Becca remembers the fun she had and the relationships she built while training for the event. That first year, she put together a training and fundraising team. They met every Saturday morning to run and prepare for the race.

Becca’s kids, Rachel and Walt, were 13 and 10 at the time. They too were up early on Saturday mornings to run – even when they’d rather sleep in.

“There are some things that happen in your life that change you for the rest of your life and that’s what this FUNd Run did,” said Becca.

One change was new friendships gained. She remembers her daughter Rachel becoming good friends with Emily Wood (Greg Wood’s daughter). They went to different schools but became friends because of the race, and they remained friends. Another life change is that Rachel continues to run to this day, including marathons. And it all started with this initial FUNd Run.

Another thing that happened was on the Wednesday night before the Saturday race when Becca and her kids were putting in one last practice near the St. Andrews track. Becca accidentally tripped over a concrete parking block. She said Emily was with them and asked Rachel if she had just seen her mom flying through the air. Becca had torn a hamstring. She couldn’t immediately walk or run after the accident but realized she could skip. She ended up skipping through the 5K race on Saturday.

Becca also held a bittersweet memory while reviewing pictures of her mom with her kids during the first race.

“Mom was there cheering us on that first year, but she would pass that next year,” remembered Becca.

Others were cheering them on too. Part of the team’s goals were not only to train but to fundraise. Getting people to support Rachel, Walt, and Emily was pretty easy. That first year the three of them raised $988.62 from supporters.

Newspaper clipping featuring three girls with medals, text titled

I asked Becca how conversations started about the first FUNd Run. She had participated in a race with her previous job. But she credits Ruth Glaser, then COO of the hospital, who gave them a good vision for the race, and they ran with it.

The FUNd Run was the first of its kind in our community and has become the longest lasting race at over 20 years. We realized while putting all the pieces together that they weren’t consecutive years. A few were skipped here and there in those early years.

During that first year, they didn’t have a race company or chips in bibs like today, but Becca remembers having individuals out at the finish line manually keeping track of the time as runners crossed.

Thank you, Becca, for taking the vision and keeping it going for so many years before passing the baton to our other longstanding Foundation Director, Kirsten Dean.

I asked Kirsten if she was involved with the Foundation in 2002. She said she hadn’t joined yet. During that time, she was pregnant with Jennings but joined the Board the next year. After serving on the Board for many years, in 2011, Kirsten became the new director of the Foundation.

Kirsten continued the format of the run to include a Half Marathon that started a few years earlier. It began at the hospital, went through St. Andrews, and out on the Hasty Road then beyond General McArthur’s on Barnes Bridge down to Plantation Road.

Kirsten shared a story of one of our employees, Tammy Holloway, who injured her hip one year while running the half marathon.

“Tammy wanted us to carry her over the finish line,” said Kirsten. “We probably shouldn’t have, but we did.”

People in pink shirts carrying a person in athletic wear, likely an injured runner, at an outdoor event.

Kirsten was also instrumental in adding the Ribbon Walk in 2014 which included luminaries and ribbons of all colors to represent all types of cancers. The Ribbon Walk would be replaced a few years later by the 1-Mile Spirit Walk where Spirit Markers line the first mile of the race to honor or remember loved ones affected by cancer. We still promote these today.

Moving the race Downtown happened in 2018 according to Kirsten. The race partnered with SpringFest allowing race participants to enjoy all the downtown festivities after the run.

“We had to go virtual in 2020,” remembered Kirsten.

Instead of racing together folks were encouraged to race at home and post pictures of their FUNd Run using the hashtag #ScenesFromMyFUNdRun.

I joined the Foundation in 2022, and thought it was such an honor to be a part of the staple events these two great ladies had poured their blood, sweat, and tears into.

My first FUNd Run stayed much the same, but last year, the race shifted to McDuffie Square. We re-certified the course to avoid some traffic and changed the start to Railroad Street. SpringFest had moved to Suds and Swine weekend, so we decided to create a FUNd Fest and invite the Cancer Survivors Celebration to join us after the race.

It’s interesting to look at an event over 20 years and watch it change and grow. Sustaining an event like this for so long is a testament to the support from our communities. Our records show the first race raised around $14,000. Last year was one of our highest grossing years, topping $50,000 thanks to the continued support of our sponsors – especially Service Thread who has sponsored for many of the 20 years. Others have supported the FUNd Run over the years including Nic’s Pik Kwik, Hasty Realty, Wade S. Dunbar Insurance, Bill Evans/Trophy World, Boles Funeral Home, and so many others.

Join us on April 26 to celebrate our 20th year.