Purple Ribbon 5K

My name is Justin Rockitter and I am a senior at Binghamton University. I founded this race in 2014 as a junior in high school in honor of my Grandma Sue. I was only 7 years old when my grandma passed from Pancreatic Cancer but she had such a strong impact on me and my family and I have many fond memories of being with her including going to Zach's Bay early in the morning to find Horshoe Crabs. She loved nature and was extremely caring. The more years I direct this event, the more people come up to me and tell me the influence my grandma had on them. Being so young when she passed, I did not have much I could do to honor her. But when I was 16 and an avid Cross Country and Track runner, I decided to found the Purple Ribbon Run in her honor. Ever since, we have raised over $25,000 for the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer research.