Six months and more than 700 hours of planning and promoting paid off for Vin Gleason when the first Run for Life went off without a hitch Sunday at Cayuga Community College.

“It was everyday work,” Gleason said. “It was a learning process for me as well, the first time you plan this sort of thing always is. It took six months of constant focus and help from a lot of volunteers and family.”

Gleason even started a group on the networking site, Facebook, to promote the event and recruit people to either volunteer or run in the 5k race. Along with Majorpalooza creator, Chris Major, Gleason put together this race for charity to coincide with the Majorpalooza celebration, which also benefits local charities.

“Getting people together every year to raise money for important causes is something that I had wanted to do since I started putting together marathons to honor my children and others in children's hospitals,” Gleason said. “This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do that and to put these two wonderful events together, bring the entire community together.”

Gleason had supporters such as the Eat Healthy, Play Hard coalition and the Tobacco Free Partnership to help him along the way as well. Eat Healthy, Play Hard supplied snacks and ribbons while sponsoring the children's fun run as a part of the race. The Tobacco Free Partnership sponsored the event by supplying the awards to be given to the race winners.

“It is nice to have a local run,” Eat Healthy, Play Hard's Joe Mushock said. “We have sponsored Vin Gleason in other things and want to encourage more running. It's a healthy activity, so we are glad to be a part of it. It is also great that all of the money raised at this race and the Majorpalooza will stay in the community, helping needy causes right here.”

Tracy Swietoniowski, a volunteer at the Run for Life and a group fitness coordinator at the Auburn YMCA-WEIU, was one of the supporters of the race who helped Gleason get the event off and running from the start. Not only did she help Gleason put the event on, she also watched her own children cross the finish line.

“This was a very achievable run for anyone,” Swietoniowski said. “That is another reason this race is so great, anyone can do it. Seeing kids running for a cause is an amazing thing, it doesn't get better than that.”

Gleason designed the course, at the Cayuga Community College nature trail, to emulate the journey a cancer patient goes through in their battle for survival from the disease. And as people of every age and ability crossed the finish line, Gleason's vision came true.

“I know that the course is challenging but we wanted to make sure that everyone can get involved in some part of the race,” Gleason said. “I was standing there at the finish line and as people were coming across they were saying ‘thank you' and hugging me, that was the greatest feeling of all, an experience I will never forget.”

Local runner Chris Mason may be used to the feeling of winning, adding another trophy to his collection after taking first place in the Run for Life, with Greg Stowell taking second.

“While I was away at school I talked to Gleason about this meet and wanted to be a part of it right away,” Mason said. “I just got through running at school for SUNY Delhi and was on a rest week so I didn't know how hard it would be, but it was a fun course to run.”

Mason is currently looking at Division I schools to run at but is glad to still be able to come home to Auburn and participate in races.

“It would be nice to build Auburn up to a running community again,” Mason said. “We are trying to revive it, running is a really healthy thing to do.”

Stowell said that he was glad, as a cross country coach, to see some of his runners out in the race and happy to be able to participate in a race during the holiday weekend.

“I enjoy going to the Majorpalooza event and this was a nice little event to add to the weekend,” Stowell said. “It was a great course and I was happy with how well I ran.”

Gleason proclaimed the event a success, and his goal of 80 participants was exceeded when 150 runners took to the course.

“We will be ready for next year now,” Gleason said. “This was a great day and I hope we can keep it going.”