VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - More than 2,000 runners and walkers raced through the streets and along the Boardwalk at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Sunday.
The Virginia Beach 10-Miler wrapped up a Labor Day weekend of races that also included a 5k.
J & A Racing partnered with Chartway Credit Union for the event, which also brought in more than $9,000 for the credit union's nonprofit arm, Chartway Promise Foundation.
After the race Sunday, the foundation — joined by the Make-A-Wish Foundation on a stage on the beach — granted the wish of Chesapeake teen Chanel Garcia, 15, who's been battling leukemia for nearly two years.
“You guys are going to Hawaii in December," announced Christine Wilson, President of the Chartway Promise Foundation, to Garcia and her mom.
Garcia spoke to News 3 about her excitement after the announcement.
“I feel so great. I’m happy to go to Hawaii. This is my first time," she said. “I”m doing great right now. I thank all my doctors, CHKD for helping me get better. I’m taking my medicine every day.”
Wilson says the 10 Miler and another race Chartway sponsors, the Harbor Half Marathon in Norfolk, are both crucial to the foundation's mission.
"[It] helps spread our message to not only get more people involved in the foundation, but also other partners in the area, other nonprofits that may not know about us, that we may start working together again," she told News 3.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Wilson says the Chartway Promise Foundation will spend the month raising money to support local families experiencing childhood cancer.
