ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
Thousands of early risers packed the streets of downtown for the first ever All-Star 5K run Sunday morning. It may have looked like the typical road race until you saw finishing runners being greeted by the likes of Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, and Cardinal legend Vince Coleman. It was yet another well attended event which has Major League Baseball people from out of town buzzing. It's no surprise to Coleman.
"For the years that I played maybe I'd have made more All Star teams if it was during that year but it's great for the city," he says. "It'll probably be the most attended All-Star game in the history of baseball. That's what they tell me."
The 5K race, along with Saturday's Sheryl Crow concert are spearheading a major fundraising effort for the charity Stand Up 2 Cancer. The group's co-founder, former Paramount Studios Chief Sherry Lansing, says the momentum seems to be growing.
"To see everybody in St. Louis uniting around this cause and to see how Major League baseball has made this one of their top philanthropic causes convinces me that the scientists are going to find an end to this disease."
Among the runners Sunday was Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson. The teenage sports star had a front row seat to her grandmother's battle with cancer.
"I was eight years old when she went through it and I kind of lived with her and went through all the little details and stuff that a lot of people don't realize. And if we can find a cure for it I think people can not have to be effected by it so much."
An official number hasn't been released yet, but Major League Baseball officials confirm donations of "several million" dollars to charities tied in with St. Louis' All-Star Game.
"For the years that I played maybe I'd have made more All Star teams if it was during that year but it's great for the city," he says. "It'll probably be the most attended All-Star game in the history of baseball. That's what they tell me."
The 5K race, along with Saturday's Sheryl Crow concert are spearheading a major fundraising effort for the charity Stand Up 2 Cancer. The group's co-founder, former Paramount Studios Chief Sherry Lansing, says the momentum seems to be growing.
"To see everybody in St. Louis uniting around this cause and to see how Major League baseball has made this one of their top philanthropic causes convinces me that the scientists are going to find an end to this disease."
Among the runners Sunday was Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson. The teenage sports star had a front row seat to her grandmother's battle with cancer.
"I was eight years old when she went through it and I kind of lived with her and went through all the little details and stuff that a lot of people don't realize. And if we can find a cure for it I think people can not have to be effected by it so much."
An official number hasn't been released yet, but Major League Baseball officials confirm donations of "several million" dollars to charities tied in with St. Louis' All-Star Game.
