Massey 10K Challenge Raises $100,000 for Cancer Care and Research

It’s not the Monument Avenue 10K without the VCU Massey Cancer Center Challenge.

In a year that has been largely defined by COVID-19, one thing has remained constant: Massey Nation’s commitment to fighting cancer, no matter what. Cancer doesn’t stop for a pandemic, and for our Massey Challenge team captains, neither do they.

COVID-19 predicated changes to the traditional Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K, of which VCU Massey Cancer Center is the official charity partner. This year, Sports Backers extended the race to two new sites, Byrd and Dorey Parks, and it could be run over four days to better accommodate social distancing and enable participants to run or walk at their convenience.

The 10K’s motto is, “It’s not RVA without the 10K,” and it’s also not the 10K without the Massey Challenge. Despite the changes, more than 100 individual team members and team captains still stepped up to run, walk and fundraise. Some teams ran or walked at Dorey and Byrd Parks as part of the 10K. Some rallied friends and neighbors to get active in their own communities. Others participated virtually.

All stepped up to fundraise and support Massey and the Massey Challenge. This year, a number of Massey doctors, Emma Fields (Cert.’16/E), M.D.; Khalid Matin, M.D.; Kandace McGuire, M.D.; and Jose Trevino, M.D., stepped up to captain new Massey Challenge teams, rallying colleagues, friends, neighbors and even Massey patients to donate and participate with them. Our doctors’ teams alone raised $57,000, including about half in the final week, and are still fundraising.

Donations to the 2021 Massey Challenge provide unrestricted funds to support the center’s most pressing needs, as designated by the cancer center director. These include efforts to advance research, to recruit and retain top cancer researchers and physicians, and to increase education and access to cancer prevention programs and pilot projects to help catch cancer earlier and improve outcomes for all patients, regardless of their geographic or economic status.

Thank you to our corporate champions, First Citizens Bank, NCi (Northeast Construction Inc) and Owens & Minor for sponsoring the Massey Challenge and much of our work day in and day out at Massey. To say we are grateful for your commitment is an understatement.

Despite the recent heat, despite the changes predicated by COVID-19 and despite the challenges of cancer, Massey Nation stepped up this year to support lifesaving cancer research, raising more than $100,000 through this year’s Challenge.

If you would like to be a part of supporting the VCU Massey Cancer Center, please contact the Massey Development Office at 804-828-1450.