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Runners take off at the start of the 5K in North Suffolk on Saturday for the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer and 1-Mile Fun Walk.

Kristen and D’Ante Axel bring their 2-and-a-half-year-old Isaiah to his latest race at the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer and 1-Mile Fun Walk held in North Suffolk on Saturday.

Brandon Graser, Shane Graser, Jason Cooney and Amanda Shuler are among the 200-plus finishers of the 5k held Saturday in North Suffolk for the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer and 1-Mile Fun Walk.

Runners cross the finish line at the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer held on Saturday in North Suffolk.

Runners take off at the start of the 5k in North Suffolk on Saturday for the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer and 1-Mile Fun Walk.

Adele Muller, Julie Johnson, Samantha Alexander and Michelle Dieges psyche themselves up to run at the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer and 1-Mile Fun Walk held in North Suffolk on Saturday.

The crowd cheers for the runners at the finish line of the eighth annual Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer held on Saturday in North Suffolk.

Avid runner Joe Polinski, 79, continues his streak of running in every Bon Secours 5K for Colon Cancer at the eighth entry that was held on Saturday in North Suffolk.

Hundreds of runners and walkers bundled up in jackets and gloves for the cold weather on Saturday morning. They gathered outside the Bon Secours Health Center in North Suffolk and passed the time chatting and stretching for the distance ahead of them.

Joe Polinski, a 79-year-old avid runner, collected his finisher’s medal for the 5K on Saturday with a smile. He’s a member of the Wharf Hill Chuggers running team. He will run 80 miles in about seven days for his 80th birthday this April, he said.

“It’s a good race, and it’s for a good cause,” he said about the Saturday run. “You just gotta keep running every day. I’m lucky to be able to do it. Some folks can’t.”

Polinski was one of 307 runners and walkers at the eighth annual Colon Cancer Awareness 5K and One Mile Fun Walk held by Bon Secours Hampton Roads. Spokeswoman Lynne Zultanky said the cold, morning winds played a factor in the turnout.

“We’ve had bigger turnouts when the weather was more cooperative, but we’ve still got a number of people that come year after year,” Zultanky said.

Kristen and D’Ante Axel bundled up their 2-and-a-half-year-old son, Isaiah, for his third race with his parents.

“It’s a little chilly, but I think that will motivate us to run faster so we can get out of it,” Kristen said before they started the 5K.

Runners of all skill levels wound through scenic Harbour View neighborhoods. The $100 Dick’s Sporting Goods gift cards for the fastest male and female runners in the 5K went to Gabriel Peredo, 19, and Laura Celia, 37.

“I haven’t run since high school, so just coming back out and doing this was impressive,” Peredo said as he caught his breath. The former high school cross country runner finished with a time of 17:48.

Celia, a Suffolk resident, ran with earbuds playing “Rage Against the Machine,” “Pink” and “Eminem.” She finished with a time of 21:13.

“It wasn’t as windy as it was last year,” she said.

Racers at the event were educated on colon cancer risks and encouraged to get cancer screenings. Sponsors raised approximately $20,000 for the event, which will go to Bon Secours DePaul Health Foundation and Bon Secours Maryview Foundation to help provide care for colon cancer patients, spokeswoman Lori Sharp said.

Sharp said the disease is about raising awareness for a disease that’s prevalent in Hampton Roads, which has been deemed a “hotspot” for colon cancer.

“That’s why the race is here, to raise awareness for the Suffolk and Portsmouth areas,” she said.

According to the Prevent Cancer Foundation, more than 142,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and an estimated 50,830 will die from the disease. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in America — lung cancer is the first.

Kristen and D’Ante Axel said they run in honor of a grandmother who died from colon cancer in 2015.

Tracy Matera, Jim Hatfield, Susan Barnes, Andrea Stevens and Ashleigh Hatfield tackled the 1-mile Fun Walk as team “Jim Pop Strong” in honor of a family member who also died from colon cancer in 2014.

“It’s a very emotional time,” Matera said.

While many were running in honor of loved ones affected by cancer, others ran as survivors themselves.

Suffolk native Natalie Lundy, 27, discovered last fall that she had a carcinoid tumor in her colon. She experienced symptoms and underwent a colonoscopy at Bon Secours Health Center in Harbour View, where she ran on Saturday.

That was followed up with a successful surgery to remove the tumor, and she’s received a clean bill of health since.

“I just had my six-month post-op appointment, and I was good to go,” she said.

She said people need to know that cancer can happen to anybody, regardless of age. She often encourages others to see their doctors and get screened.

As a member of Colonial Baptist Church in Virginia Beach with her husband and children, she found strength in her faith. As she listened to a playlist of church music through her earbuds, she also found peace in the chilly 5K.

“I like running. As a busy mom of three, this is my peaceful quiet time,” she said.

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