Spokane Race for the Cure drew nearly 9,000 participants

Sunday’s Komen Eastern Washington Race for the Cure drew 8,850 runners in Spokane, an about 20 percent increase over last year, organizers say. Although final tallies aren’t ready, Spokane’s Susan G. Komen for the Cure chapter expects the race to have raised more than $500,000 for breast-cancer research and grants to regional nonprofits, said Claudia Bell, executive director of the Spokane chapter. Some 75 percent of that money will stay in the 14-county region served by Susan G. Komen for the Cure Eastern Washington; 25 percent will go to the national organization for research, Bell said. Sunday’s race was the 5th annual Race for the Cure to be held in Spokane, and it was the largest yet, Bell said. “The community has supported us incredibly,” she said.