PITTSTON, Pa. — Faith over fear, fight on, and fight strong were just a couple of the mottos worn by runners turning out for the Paint Pittston Pink 5k and Mile Fun Run.
With the support of such powerful words, the rain posed no threat to their purpose.
"So running's kind of like kinda like a cult sport, people come out no matter what happens it's kind of just a matter no matter the condition is you come out," said Colby Walsh, Exeter.
"Rain or shine. It's really important to come out here and Paint Pink because it's for a great cause. And I love that this turnout is so amazing," said Julia McAndrew, Scranton.
"Well, you know, it's so inspiring; it's full of energy; even though the rain is trying to dampen it, we don't let it happen. And our community always supports us, so I can't even tell you how excited we are that this many people turned out in the bad weather," said Quiana Lehman, Paint Pittston Pink Co-Founder.
Runners tell Newswatch 16 a lot was going through their minds during the race, but the weather was the least of their concerns.
"I'm gonna keep in mind that this is nothing compared to what other people have to go through, and I'm so happy to be doing this for a great cause," said McAndrew.
"Well, life always has obstacles in it. And this is our challenge. Not only to take the obstacles on but have fun doing it, and that's what we do at Paint Pittston Pink," said Lehman.
In addition to the runners, 'Gentlemen Dashers' showed up for a cause too.
"My body is not supposed to be doing this. So I figured I'd put everybody that donated, all of their other loved ones on this cape, so I can carry them across the line," said Jonathan Nelson, Pittston.
These dashers competed not only in a race while wearing high heels but in a month-long fundraising competition too.
Together they raised more than $75,000 for cancer research.
"Pittston takes care of Pittston; it's always the way it goes. So all we did was really a grassroots, reach out to everybody and just throw me 25 bucks, and a lot of people actually did a lot more, which was great," said Nelson.
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