Posted February 19, 2016

Pope John Paul II High School in Royersford will host the fourth annual “Cupids Cranium” 5K run and one-mile walk on Saturday, Feb. 20 beginning at 10 a.m.

The event benefits the Brain Tumor Research Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Student volunteers will greet runners, organize the start and serve as race marshals during the run and walk events on the archdiocesan high school’s campus. In addition, students will also line the race route to cheer on participants who in past years have arrived to the race wearing the color red, Cupid costumes and serious running gear.

Pope John Paul II High School is located at 181 Rittenhouse Road, Royersford.

Last year 700 participants including cross-country teams, families, CHOP physicians, high school students, service groups and elite runners raised $25,000 for the Brain Tumor Research Program.

Dr. Jay Storm, chief of the Division of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Adam Resnick, director of Children’s Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium, both at CHOP, will accept this year’s donation and run in the event.

The doctors were recognized last year by the White House for leading pediatric cancer research, open data and the search for a cure for brain tumors.

According to the CHOP website: “Tumors of the brain and spine make up about 20 percent of all childhood cancers; they are the second most common form of childhood cancer after leukemia. Brain tumors are the most common solid tumor in children. Approximately 2,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year.”