Portland ‘buddy run’ raises hope for children battling cancer

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Sam Day Foundation held a “buddy run” in Portland Saturday morning in an effort to raise money to help children undergoing cancer treatment.

Twenty runners gathered at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, embarking on a 12-mile run that ended at Terra Linda School in Beaverton.

Runners were paired with buddies that are fighting cancer, but there were also a handful of others running in memory of a child lost to cancer.

“I’ve grown up around a few different people that have gone and battled toe-to-toe with pediatric cancer,” said runner Ian Cruickshank. “It’s always been a passion. You don’t go and do this, all the fundraising, if you’re not passionate about it.”

The Sam Day foundation is a nonprofit founded by Portland Police Chief Bob Day and his wife Lorna. Both lost their son Sam back in 2016 to Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.

“When families know that someone is working on the research, they have hope,” said Lorna “And every day you have hope is 100 times more tolerable than a day without hope for a kid with cancer. That’s what we needed when Sam was alive and that’s what we’re trying to give to other families.”

Organizers said they hope to raise close to $90,000 at the end of the run, but they encourage donations at any time.