WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- What started out as a short walk in Wilkes-Barre has become a big race with an even bigger mission.
The seventh annual Renal Race was held in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.
The one-mile walk and 5K run kicked off at 10 a.m. on Public Square.
The event was started in 2010 by Frank Pikul and his wife Erin after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer.
Erin tells Newswatch 16 even though kidney cancer got the event started, the race is about so much more.
"When we first did this, we thought maybe we would get 50 people to come. So it became bigger than us. It's about more than just the Pikul family and Frank. It's just a community of people affected by cancer, not just kidney cancer," Erin Pikul said.
More than $150,000 was raised. Most of the money will go to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, where Frank is treated, but some of the money stays local to help families in the area.