ROGERS - Ty Hoffine knows what goes into a great race.
Hoffine has run in three Ironman triathlons, around a half-dozen marathons, and countless races spanning shorter distances.
This is why, every year, Hoffine meticulously checks and rechecks the running courses for the Cancer Challenge, an annual series of sporting events that raises money to combat cancer in Benton and Washington counties. Hoffine is in his eighth year as the race director for Cancer Challenge, in charge of planning three events - a 10K run, 5K run and onemile run/walk - and making sure they go off without a hitch.
This prompts Hoffine to run the courses several times before race day, and to ride his bike on the courses, checking his GPS watch at the end of every trial run.
“As a runner, you want to go, you want to get the race done, and not have any logistical [problems],” says Hoffine, a project manager for Harrison French & Associates LTD. “A runner doesn’t want to do a 10Kand run 6.1 miles. It’s 6.2.”
The race has grown significantly during Hoffine’s time as its director, going from 250 registered participants his first year to about 800 last year. So too have other aspects of the Cancer Challenge, which runs June 27-29 this year.
The first Cancer Challenge, which was held in 1994, raised $100,000. This year’s edition has a goal of $650,000, and Cancer Challenge director Tina Waggener says they’re on pace to surpass it.
This is the 20th annual Cancer Challenge, and atthe end of this year’s version, it will have provided more than $10 million to local cancer programs and services. The money has assisted 280,000 people with everything from bill assistance and wigs to transportation and more.
Recently, Waggener says, the challenge received a $100,000 gift from the Ladies Professional Golf Association, which is holding a tournament in Rogers the week before the challenge. It is the largest single gift ever received by the organization (although there are corporate teams that have donated more than that over the course of the challenge’s 20 years).
“To me the No. 1 thing [that causes the event to grow] is that all the money raised stays in Washington and Benton counties, Hoffine says. “[Supporters] know that their $25 is going to stay here, and it’s going to help a neighbor, family member, a co-worker within these two counties.
“And Tina drives our expenses to be low. She wantsmore of the money to go for the true cause.”
Over the challenge’s three days there are golf, tennis and trap shoot tournaments, as well as the races. It also has an event that does not involve athletics, the Sparkle and Spurs Gala.
The gala is June 28 at Horton Farms in Gravette. Tickets are $125 apiece or $1,250 for a table of 10, and the country-theme event includes dinner, drinks, dancing, live and silent auctions and vintage photography.
Hoffine likes to attend the gala, but he can’t stay very late. Nor can he participate in the golf tournaments anymore.
That’s because he and his volunteer team need to get up around 4 a.m. on Saturday and head over to Orchards Park in Bentonville to set up barricades and signs, and make sure the course is as it needs to be. This is the third year the race event will begin and end at Orchards Park, having outgrown its previous home in Bella Vista.
Hoffine says he would enjoy going to the gala and playing in the golf tournament, but he’s not complaining. As he sees it, the fact that therole of race director is bigger than it was when he started is good news for area cancer patients and their families.
“It’s great because the more people that participate,the more money we raise, and the more money there is for somebody to get an exam or a lift [to their treatment] or whatever it is,” he says. “[The Cancer Challenge] is not forone specific form of cancer; it’s for everybody.” For more information about the Cancer Challenge, call (479) 273-3172 or visit cancerchallenge.com.
Northwest Profile, Pages 33 on 06/16/2013