The community will be running in the 15th annual Katie Oppo Memorial 5K Run/Walk, with the purpose of raising funds for ovarian cancer research and memorializing Katie Oppo.
The event, hosted by the nonprofit Katie Oppo Research Fund, will be held on June 8. The race will begin at Flower Hill Village Park at Bonnie Heights Road and Port Washington Boulevard at 9 a.m., rain or shine.
Runners can register online to run in the 5K. All children nine years old and under are able to register for free.
Katie Oppo graduated from Manhasset High School in 2009 and went on to attend Johns Hopkins University to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. In August 2010, just before beginning her sophomore year of college at the age of 19, Oppo was diagnosed with Stage IV small cell carcinoma of the ovary-hypercalcemic type, a rare form of ovarian cancer.
Oppo died April 11, 2011, after battling the disease for eight months.
The first memorial run/walk was held on July 24, 2011, just three months after Oppo’s death. The run was 6.19 kilometers long in memory of her birthday on June 19.
The race in memory of Oppo will also feature a series of activities for everyone, including a bounce house and face painting.
The memorial 5K run/walk is just one of the events hosted by the Katie Oppo Research Fund to raise donations for ovarian cancer research. Donations to the organization can be made at any time via its website.
