Birds chirped as the warm sun rose over the Lee University campus on the morning of Saturday, April 2. The 65 Roses 5k began at 8:30 a.m., and the spring weather brought more than a thousand participants for the 14th annual 5K and 16th annual Great Strides walk.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) parent and event co-chair Vanessa Hammond said, “I am so grateful. We could not have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect and the large crowd was full of enthusiasm.”

Overall time winners of the 5k were Joseph Crook and Amanda Cotter with times of 16:59 and 19:16, respectively. Awards were also given to the winners in age groups ranging from ten and under to 65 and over.

A great time was had by all on Saturday, with games and activities for the kids and a 1k Fun Run.  Participants contributed more than $60,000, pushing the amount raised for CF research over the last 16 years past $800,000.

“What a massive amount of community support we saw,” said Dr. Bill Estes, director of the 5k race. “There are so many people who make this a successful event, but I am continually amazed and humbled by the ‘City with Spirit’ and its community support in our efforts. This event is such a great example of the town-gown relationship we all benefit from in Cleveland. What a glorious day!”

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Its focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately to find a cure. In the last 30 years, the life expectancy of a child with CF has doubled, and research is happening daily to find a cure and perfect the drugs available to those living with CF.

For more information or to see complete race results, visit Great Strides 2016.