After being hosted in Shelby County’s suburban municipalities for 22 years, the Susan G. Komen Mid-South Race for the Cure will move to Memphis this fall.
Race organizers made the move official Wednesday during an announcement at Raymond James in Memphis.
The 2015 race, a 5K run that raises awareness for breast cancer, will be held on Oct. 31 at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis.
The race, which draws around 10,000 runners, has been held in Collierville’s Carriage Crossing the past two years. Before that, it was held in Germantown’s Saddle Creek.
Collierville town officials were notified about the likely move in March.
Race organizers said the reason for the move was to compensate for the future growth of the event.
“Collierville and Carriage Crossing were wonderful hosts and partners and we had two fabulous races there. Because the need for health care funds in our community is so great, and because breast cancer affects 1-in-8 women in her lifetime, we need to grow the race,” said Elaine Hare, executive director of Susan G. Komen of the Mid-South. “Downtown offers the resources to accommodate a race for 25,000 and that is the ultimate goal. Little Rock has a very large Race for the Cure in their downtown and we believed that if they can do it, then the Mid-South can as well.
“We are only able to meet approximately 60 percent of the annual grant requests from our local hospitals and health care providers,” she continued. “And we know if we grow the race, we can better meet the needs of our community.
“The Race for the Cure is not what we do, but how we do what we do,” she continued, “and what we do is fund education, mammograms, diagnostics and support in our 21-county service area. We are fortunate that Memphis saw the need and appreciates that 75 percent of what we raise stays right here in our community. The remaining 25 percent goes to breast cancer research.
“We need everyone in the Mid-South to join us in the fight against breast cancer and to be a part of raising health care dollars for our community,” she concluded. “Helping local women, men and their families and supporting our local hospitals and health care providers is what we do and growing the race will allow us to help even more.”
