The 12th annual Steeplechase Distance Run will be held virtually Sept. 27 to Oct. 4 to raise funds for the Steeplechase Cancer Center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, an RWJBarnabas Health facility.
Participants can choose to walk, run, bike or swim during that week or they can take our challenge and complete 100 miles throughout the entire month of September.
Proceeds from the event will benefit educational and support programs and a patient assistance fund at the Steeplechase Cancer Center. The patient assistance fund is used to arrange transportation for cancer patients to get to and from their medical appointments and for cancer patients’ supportive needs, including financial assistance for wigs and prostheses offered at the cancer center’s Sanofi US Wellness Boutique; groceries; medications; house cleaning services and other living expenses.
“Even though we are not able to get together in-person this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that our community will still join us in going the distance for our cancer patients,” said Deirdre Blaus, assistant vice president of cancer services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset. “In addition to offering comprehensive health care services for our cancer patients, we are committed to providing them the support they need throughout every step of their cancer journey. The funds raised by the Steeplechase Distance Run help us not only address our patients’ physical needs, but their psychosocial, emotional and spiritual needs and help ease some of the financial burdens they may be facing as a result of their cancer diagnosis.”
Together with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Steeplechase Cancer Center provides the latest cancer treatment options close to home. The three-story, 63,000-square-foot facility, which opened in 2007, houses radiation therapy services, a PET/CT, infusion therapy, breast imaging services, the hospital’s research team, oncologists’ and surgeons’ offices, nutritional counseling, a smoking cessation program, genetic testing services, patient navigator services, a patient resource library, the Sanofi US Wellness Boutique and complementary medicine services, such as yoga, t’ai chi, meditation and wellness classes.
Registration for the Steeplechase Distance Run is $30 for adults and $15 for children age 15 and under and registration for the 100 Mile Challenge is $45 for adults and $30 for children age 15 and under. To register, go to www.SteeplechaseDistanceRun.com.