Runners and volunteers painted Westwood purple for the 29th annual Los Angeles Cancer Challenge 5K Walk/Run on Sunday.
The run, organized by the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, raised more than $800,000 for pancreatic cancer research, surpassing its original funding goal of $750,000. With six days until Halloween, organizers milled around in mad scientist costumes to match this year’s exclusive medal design, and attendees donned everything from butterfly wings, banana suits and bunny ears to accompany their running bibs.
Participants gathered at Wilson Plaza as early as 7:30 a.m. for the race. This year’s event comes after the federal government approved daraxonrasib, a drug that inhibits the spread of pancreatic cancer through targeted mutated RAS proteins, in late August.
“To be able to gather here today and have some real concrete examples of the benefits of the work that we’ve been funding all these years, it really has added an extra level of importance to the event,” said Lisa Manheim, executive director of the Hirshberg Foundation and UCLA alumnus.
Manheim’s mother, Agi Hirshberg, established the Foundation in 1997 after her husband, Ron Hirshberg, died from pancreatic cancer. In 2026, pancreatic cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths nationwide and has a 13% five-year survival rate for all stages combined, according to the Hirshberg Foundation.
Manheim said her mother didn’t initially plan to found an organization, but after discovering there was no organization dedicated to researching the disease, she was motivated to start one herself. Since then, researchers have developed stronger methods to diagnose the cancer and improved chemotherapy and treatment processes, Manheim said.
Attendees heard opening remarks from host Denise Dador and speakers including Manheim and Dr. Mark Girgis, director for the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases and LA Cancer Challenge honorary medical chair. Children, adults and a handful of dogs then began the race after pancreatic cancer survivor Peter Lau sounded the starting horn at 9:15 a.m.
From there, racers weaved through campus, following a marked path that took them along Charles E. Young Drive to visit UCLA landmarks such as the Bruin Bear, Royce Hall and Pauley Pavilion.
Runners started crossing the finish line around 9:30 a.m., where waiting volunteers distributed medals, donuts and water to each finisher.
Heather Huggins participated in the run as part of Team Tinker to honor her friend and fellow runner Nancy Tinker, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months ago. Huggins said she met the ultramarathon runner, whom she sees as a mentor figure, over a decade ago. She added that she hopes the strength she sees in Tinker carries over through her fight against cancer.
Huggins said she wanted to win the race for Tinker and expects Tinker, who is used to running 100-mile races, to enjoy her newly earned medal, which she calls her “special Nancy medal.”
“As I was getting tired, I thought, well, I can just take it easy, or I can just be strong – be strong like her – and come across the finish line first,” said Huggins, who won the 5K in the women’s division and came in fifth overall. “So that’s what I did. I tried to channel a little of her energy and her craziness and just push hard.”
Tyler Woo, who also participated in the race, said the LA Cancer Challenge has become a tradition for his family to honor his grandmother, who was diagnosed with cancer around six years ago.
“I love having a group of people that can relate to what I had to go through because, at the time, researching pancreatic cancer was not this huge thing and not everybody knew,” Woo said. “People would ask, ‘Oh, what does she have?’ ‘Pancreatic cancer.’ ‘What’s that?’ So it’s really great to have a community where I feel like everybody knows what I’m talking about.”
Manheim said the race’s connection to campus is special because the Agi Hirshberg Center is located in the UCLA Medical Plaza.
As the last racers trickled back into Wilson Plaza, organizers announced that Marvin’s Marvels was the largest team – with over 100 members – and raised the most money, contributing more than $139,000 of the LA Cancer Challenge’s total sum of around $812,000.
The team, unified by light blue shirts, was formed in 2008 by the family of Marvin Gussman, who died of the disease that same year, said his wife, Madeline Gussman. She added that it has been growing each year.
Shane Gussman, one of Marvin Gussman’s grandchildren who participated in the race, said the team grew to include friends, family and employees from The Marvin Group, an aerospace and defense manufacturing company that Marvin Gussman founded in 1963.
“It is nice to have an event where we can all be joyful together and fight the cause,” Shane Gussman said.
With the beginning of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month approaching, Manheim said the LA Cancer Challenge’s timing brings visibility to the disease – which needs year-round funding – and the work that the Hirshberg Foundation and other organizations are doing.
“If you lost someone, you can use this day to remember them, to come together as a family and celebrate them,” Manheim said. “But more importantly, if you are currently living with the disease or know someone who is, you can know that here, you’re not alone.”
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