The dark ominous skies parted just before the race was about to begin. A patch of blue appeared overhead.
“Somebody was looking down on us,” said Dr. Ramona Crowley-Goldberg.
The special 5-kilometer event, for runners and walkers, was held Saturday morning, Oct. 1 in Solomons and benefitted the Center for Breast Care at Calvert Memorial Hospital (CMH).
Crowley-Goldberg’s husband, Dr. Sheldon Goldberg, helped found the center and served as its medical director until his tragic death this past summer.
Before the hundreds of participants, some wearing pink to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, sped off through the streets of Solomons, Crowley-Goldberg requested a moment and silence for her husband as well as for Brandon Greening.
Greening died this past May, nearly five years after being diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer. Although breast cancer primarily afflicts women (one woman in eight will develop the disease in her lifetime) Greening was proof men are also vulnerable.
The race’s top male finisher—Jordan Blankenship of St. Leonard—said afterwards he is a friend of Greening’s son Dakota, and that he participated in tribute to the Greening family.
The top female finisher was Hannah Aris.
Prior to the start of the race, Crowley-Goldberg announced that approximately $15,000 had been raised at the 5K event.
“Sheldon’s hope was that a center for breast care would serve patients and their families, not just with state-of-the-art imaging, surgery and oncology, but with support groups and educational programs—a well-planned comprehensive treatment program,” Crowley-Goldberg stated.
This was CMH’s second annual Breast Cancer 5k Run/Walk.
Contact Marty Madden at
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