Race to Reimagine Cancer Care: How the Abington Health Foundation Inspires Hope
Ian Campbell | November 8, 2025
Every October, hundreds of runners, survivors, families, and healthcare workers gather at the Asplundh Cancer Pavilion in Willow Grove, PA to reimagine how cancer patients receive treatment.
Now in its 9th year, the Race to Reimagine Cancer Care 5K and 1-Mile Walk continues to grow as one of the Philadelphia region’s most meaningful community races. In 2025, the event welcomed 522 participants and raised closed to $60,000 for the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center – Asplundh Cancer Pavilion, part of Jefferson Health.
“We believe no one should face a cancer diagnosis alone,” says Aimee Alven, Director of the Abington Health Foundation Women’s Board. “This race brings together patients, medical staff, family, and friends to honor and remember loved ones affected by cancer.”
A Race that Heals Beyond the Finish Line
Proceeds from the Race to Reimagine fund programs and services at the Asplundh Cancer Pavilion, including the Image Recovery Center — a serene salon that helps patients manage the physical side effects of treatment, from hair loss to skin changes to breast surgery recovery.
Run The Day has been proud to partner with Aimee and her team to make race registration, fundraising, and race-day operations easier, so that the event can raise more money for the cause.
Why Jefferson Health Choose Run The Day
Before switching to Run The Day’s registration and fundraising platform, the AHF team needed to transfer data in spreadsheets from their fundraising platform to Run The Day’s race timing software.
“We were thrilled to find that Run The Day’s platform had everything we needed and more,” Aimee explains. “It’s easy for participants to register, join a fundraising team, and for our staff to pull real-time data with one click. I found myself saying multiple times how glad I was that we made the switch!”
Seamless Experience — From Registration to Race Day
- Mobile App for Race Day Check-In: Check-in takes seconds, keeping lines short. Even non-tech-savvy volunteers can easily assign bibs and check in runners.
- Easy to Use Customizations: The AHF team created discount codes, added custom fields, and sold race-day add-ons directly through their dashboard.
- Race Day Registration: Registration stayed open right up until start time — no downtime or data transfers needed.
- Impressive Growth: Participation has increased an average of 32% since COVID. Sponsors now enjoy more foot traffic than before, which has allowed Aimee and her team to bring on at least a dozen new sponsors in the past 5 years.
Built on Trust — and Friendship
“I can say with sincerity that the Run The Day team have become friends,” Aimee shares. “Ian, Lexi, Gary, and the entire crew are quick to respond, open to feedback, and always deliver. Ian’s presence on race day shows he truly cares about his clients — from start to finish.”
See the Results, Photos & Awards
Read the Full Q&A with Race Director Aimee Alven
Q1: What is your Name and Position?
Aimee Alven, Director of the Abington Health Foundation (AHF) Women’s Board
Q2: Tell us about your race (What cause does it benefit? How many participants? How much money is raised?)
The Race to Reimagine Cancer Care benefits the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center – Asplundh Cancer Pavilion, which is a part of the Jefferson Health system. We believe that no one should face a cancer diagnosis alone, so the race offers a chance for patients, medical staff, family and friends to participate in honor or memory of a loved one affected by cancer. The race grows every year – for our 9th annual race in October, we had our highest numbers of participants yet - 522! We raise an average of $60,000 each year which goes directly to support programs and services at the Asplundh Cancer Pavilion, including the Image Recovery Center, which is funded by the generosity of the AHF Women’s Board. This serene salon brings the amenities of a luxury spa to people coping with the effects of cancer treatment, from loss of hair to changes in the skin to having breasts surgically removed.
Q3: How has your race grown since COVID?
Since we returned in person in 2021 post-Covid, we have seen an average participation increase of 32%! This has been extremely valuable to the success of the race, especially for our sponsors who attend. They have more guests to interact with to promote their brand and we’ve brought on at least a dozen new sponsors in those 5 years.
Q4: Why did you switch to Run The Day’s registration platform?
My goal is to use a platform that is easy for registrants on the front end and for our office on the back end. For registrants, there should be a seamless flow to getting registered and then setting up a fundraising team. For our office, we want data that’s easy to access whenever we need it. We previously had a platform that did all these things but there was a cost to transferring the data over to Run the Day’s race registeration platform, which was why we had Ian present the platform to us to see if it had the same features, We were thrilled to find that it had everything we needed and more!
Q5: What benefits did you get from using Run The Day’s registration & fundraising platform?
We especially love that we didn’t have to close registration for a few days pre-race in order to make that data transfer – participants could register right up until the race started. We appreciated that it took only one click to get any numbers we needed, the ease in which we could set up discount codes for various groups and sell add on items, and the ability to add custom data fields. It was easy for our office to have control of the dashboard but if we had any challenges, we were assisted quickly by the RTD team. In this first year with the platform, I found myself saying multiple times how glad I was that we made the switch!
Q6: Did Run The Day help to promote your event?
Yes, RTD was kind enough to feature us several times both in their weekly newsletter and in social media posts.
Q7: How did Run The Day’s mobile app work for race day registration and check-in?
The app is seamless, allowing ease on the front end for registrants and the back end for volunteers. In just a few simple steps that take no more than seconds, registrants get checked in and given a bib, which helps to keep check-in lines moving efficiently so there’s plenty of time to get warmed up and enjoy the other amenities we offer pre-race. Our volunteers are able to use the app with ease, even those who aren’t tech savvy!
Q8: How did Run The Day’s team capabilities work for fundraising?
We did not have anyone who started a fundraising page reach out to us with any issues, so it seems like it was a user friendly process!
Q9: What was it like working with Ian, Lexi, Gary and the Run The Day team?
I can say with sincerity that the RTD team have become friends! They are quick to respond to questions, willing to help with anything, and always try and incorporate our constructive feedback. I always look forward to working with them every year and we have established a great relationship based on trust, as they always deliver! We really appreciate when Ian attends the race – it shows he truly cares about RTD’s clients “from start to finish!”
➡️ Tired of complicated software? See how Run The Day makee registrations and check-in easy. Schedule a demo to experience simple software built for 5K races.
