In 2025, when participants gathered to warm up before the race, they made a circle around the basketball court at Independence Park. One year later, the crowd pretty much filled up the court.

“I don’t know if I was prepared for this many people, but it’s a good problem to have,” said Avera Cancer Institute Marshall Clinic manager Rachel Farrell, as she welcomed the crowd at Saturday’s Race Against Cancer.

More than 300 people came out for a run or walk on a route through Independence Park and Marshall.

Farrell said the Avera Race Against Cancer raises money that will help support area cancer patients. “The Foundation helps with a variety of things – with meals, travel, lodging, if patients can’t afford their co-pays. They just help us so much,” she told the crowd.

Photo by Deb Gau Kids were invited to help lead the warm-up exercises before the start of the Race Against Cancer.

Organizers said attendance at this year’s Race Against Cancer in Marshall had doubled from 2025. In a news release, Avera said a total of over 8,600 people took part in Race Against Cancer events in South Dakota and Minnesota. The events raised a total of more than $950,000 to support cancer patients across the Avera Health system.

“Like past events, this was a powerful community moment of thousands of people coming together to do good for a cause that matters,” said Elijah Bonde, community giving manager for the Avera Foundation.

Farrell said the support of people in the Marshall area has an impact, as Avera Cancer Institute Marshall provides cancer treatments like radiation therapy and chemotherapy infusions.

“In the last year, we’ve had over 5,000 cancer infusions or visits, over 3,000 office visits for cancer patients, and over 1,600 radiation treatments. So we continue to grow,” she said. “Our mission is to provide care close to home, and that’s something that we are always working toward.”