O'BRiley 5K, Fun Run Raises $1,800 to Combat Cancer

Participants in the Second Annual Thanksgiving Day "O'BRiley 5K and 1 Mile Kids Fun Run" raised $1,800 to help fight cancer. 

The Thanksgiving Day race was started by local residents Colin O'Brien and Michael Riley, after the Malibu Fitness 5K had moved from Farmington to Berlin. Wanting another local race, they organized an event on the Farmington River Trail and collected goods for the Canton Food Bank. 

"We had a great turnout and people stepped up," the race web site states. "We were able to donate a lot of food on Thanksgiving Day" 

This year the two decided to raise funds in honor of Dawn Gibbons, a friend battling colon cancer and donated $1,800 to the American Cancer Society. 

"With Nancy Richard's passing, and our friend Dawn's family being affected we knew we wanted to change from food bank to cancer," Riley said. "It felt great to see Sean Richard be the first one to show up — and run both races." 

The race winner was Casey O'Connor.  Sean Richard took first place in the Kids 1-mile fun run. 

The two hope to expand the race for next year. Keep up with updates at 
http://theriley5.wix.com/obriley5k