Augusta’s PaceDay brought together people who walked, ran and rode bikes on Sunday, Oct. 4, with fundraising directed to cancer research at the Georgia Cancer Center. PACELINE, the organization behind the annual fundraiser, describes the gathering as both a research fundraiser and an awareness event, and says all PaceDay fundraising supports innovative research at the center. WJBF’s event-day report followed participants whose reasons for joining were personal, while the station’s pre-event coverage explained how PACELINE seed grants can help researchers start projects and collect early data. Together, the event and the funding path offer a grounded look at how a community fundraiser connects family experience with research.
The event’s format gave people different ways to take part. PACELINE listed a 5K, an instructor-led Spin Zone class and cycling routes of about six, 25 and 62.5 miles. Its participation page describes the 5K as suitable for all ages and abilities, and says families, teams and individuals can go at their own pace. The Spin Zone provides bikes and shoes; the longer rides include support details such as vehicles and rest stops. Those options make PaceDay more than a single race: participants can choose a walk, run, indoor class or ride that fits their interests and experience.
WJBF spoke with participant Joe Sandoz after the event. He said he joined in memory of his great-grandfather, who had meant a great deal to him, and described participating as a way to show appreciation and support. His account gives the event a human scale without suggesting everyone had the same reason for coming. People can join a fundraiser because of a personal connection, to support research, or simply to take part in a community activity. PaceDay’s range of activities accommodates those different ways of showing up.
A separate WJBF story published before the event carried another participant’s perspective. Troy Breitmann said his wife, mother and father had all survived cancer, making the cause personal to his family. These are Breitmann’s reported family experiences, not a claim about every participant. His account and Sandoz’s are distinct: one described relatives who survived cancer, while the other explained why he rode in memory of a loved one. Both help explain the human context around a fundraiser while leaving each person’s story in their own terms.
WJBF also interviewed PACELINE vice president James Holmes about the organization’s research grants. Holmes said typical seed grants are around $50,000 and give researchers support to begin work and collect data that may strengthen applications for larger federal funding, including grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health. That describes a funding pathway, not a guarantee that any particular project will receive later funding or produce a treatment. The distinction matters: fundraising supports research, while scientific results have to be established through the research itself.
The pre-event report profiled Georgia Cancer Center researcher Tianxiang Hu, who studies bladder cancer. Hu described PACELINE support as giving him an opportunity to explore his research ideas and work toward a potential therapy. The example helps readers see one way a seed grant can support an individual researcher’s early work. It does not mean a therapy already exists, that the fundraiser alone caused a medical advance, or that the project has reached a clinical outcome. The reporting supports a more measured point: local fundraising can help researchers take an early step and build evidence for the next one.
PACELINE’s official pages outline both the purpose and practical structure of PaceDay. The event page names the Georgia Cancer Center as the recipient of fundraising; the participation page describes activities and route support. WJBF’s reports add participant interviews and the organization’s explanation of its grant model. The reports reviewed do not provide a final dollar total for the 2026 event, so this story does not state how much it raised. That keeps the account focused on what the available records confirm: who the fundraiser supports, what participation options were offered, and how seed funding is intended to help researchers begin work.
The mix of activities also gives families and teams more than one way to join. A five-kilometer course is a different commitment from a six-mile loop, a 25-mile ride or a 62.5-mile route; PACELINE’s descriptions make those distinctions clear. Participants can select an activity that suits their day rather than treating distance as a measure of commitment to the cause. The event’s shared purpose remains the same across those choices: people gather, move together and support research funding through PACELINE.
PaceDay’s story is local and specific. It took place in Augusta on Oct. 4, supported research at the Georgia Cancer Center and brought together participants with their own family experiences and reasons for joining. The sources reviewed do not supply a verified final dollar total, so the outcome here is best described through the event’s confirmed purpose and the grant pathway PACELINE says it funds. For Sandoz and Breitmann, personal connections brought the mission close to home; for researchers, seed support is an early chance to build a project. A community walk, run and ride can connect those parts without promising more than the reporting shows.
Reader responses