YUNET JOMOLCA Two of the participants in the Cure 4 Children Run 5K shake hands after the race on Saturday morning at Rotary Park.

Nearly 200 people gathered in Rotary Park Saturday to run in the inaugural Linda Palmer Cure 4 Children Run, raising more than $4,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the process.

Event organizer Coby Palmer, who named the 5k race after his mother after she passed away from lung cancer, said the strong turnout will lead him to make it an annual event.

“It looks like it turned out pretty well. We’ll try to keep it going every year,” Palmer said.

Besides the race, event sponsors also helped the local community contribute to St. Jude’s.

Sandra Aguilard, community relations specialist for BJ’s Wholesale Club, a sponsor of the event, helped partner with Trafalgar Elementary School classes to provide 48 cancer caps and 280 Easter cards for St. Jude patients.

YUNET JOMOLCA Jose Farnot makes it to the finish line first during the Cure for Children run on Saturday.

The white caps were decorated by 12 Trafalgar classes ranging from first to fifth grades and were handed out Saturday.

“It all started with a donation to sponsor the event, and we thought, ‘Why not tie in and do a community event and give something back?'” Aguilard said.

Jose Farnot took home the race’s first-place trophy. The Estero High School junior said he had little recovery time from running in a high school meet Friday, but it didn’t show as he eased through the finish line.

“I felt a little without legs, tired,” Farnot said.

After what he considered a subpar showing in the meet, finishing fourth and fifth in the mile and two-mile runs, respectively, Farnot said he was pleased with his first ever first-place finish in a road race.

YUNET JOMOLCA Second place in the Cure 4 Children Run takes a water break on Saturday.

“I just wanted to come out and redeem myself from (Friday),” he said.

Palmer, who has put on many events in his capacity as a Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Department employee, called the Cure 4 Children Run the “most rewarding experience” of his career.

“My mom was a big supporter of St. Jude’s, this is what she would want me to do,” Palmer said.