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Hundreds of racers raise money and awareness for developmental disabilities at Onondaga Lake Park

February 11, 2024 | Online Article informnny.com

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) – All you needed was shorts and a t-shirt for today’s Cupid Chase 5k. 200 runners took their marks at Onondaga Lake Park to raise money and spread awareness for those with developmental disabilities through Community Options.

Tami Keiser has crossed the finish line eleven times. A mom of five, Tami runs to raise awareness for autism, something two of her children are diagnosed with.

“There are so many thoughts about it, and I think it’s important to understand and raise awareness about everybody so that we can respect everybody and understand why people are who they are,” Keiser explained.

Tami, who is from Rochester, has found community coming to this race every year.

“It’s like a family. Being able to connect with people who are like-minded. I love to run. That’s one of the things that I like to do, so I have that community family, but then being around people who are going through the same things that we go through on a daily basis, and just supporting each other,” Keiser said.

The Cupid’s Chase 5k organizers can’t remember the last time they had a race on a day this nice. The beautiful weather showed up in registration numbers.

“We had a lot of same day registration today, which was great. More than we’ve had in the four years that I’ve been here,” Zachary Petrie, the executive director of Community Options in Syracuse, said.

Racers like Amanda Mazza, who runs in about 50 races a year for charities, were basking in the warm weather.

“It’s a perfect day for it. Tomorrow there’s a race here too, and it’s going to be freezing, so we lucked out today,” Mazza said.

Racers reveled in the nice weather while competing for a cause.

Hundreds of racers raise money and awareness for developmental disabilities at Onondaga Lake Park - informnny.com
Hundreds of racers raise money and awareness for developmental disabilities at Onondaga Lake Park – informnny.com