SAN ANTONIO – The 12th annual Head for the Cure 5K is returning to San Antonio on Sept. 27, continuing a powerful tradition here that began in 2014, in memory of KSAT’s late news director, Jim Boyle.
However, the nationwide mission to raise awareness and funding to support brain cancer research got its start more than a decade before the race reached San Antonio.
Matt Anthony, founder and president of the Head for the Cure Foundation, shared that his brother, Chris Anthony, was 34 years old when he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, stage 4 brain cancer.
“He was active. He was a runner. And it came out — it came from nowhere,” Matt said.
Before his death, Chris Anthony, who was a competitive runner, talked about raising money and awareness for brain cancer by starting a race.
“A few months before he passed, it was really his idea,” Matt said. “He said, ‘You know, this is a disease that is under-researched, seemingly because it’s underfunded. How about if we do a 5K? Maybe we bring a little bit of attention to this disease.’”
Chris’s idea eventually turned into the Head for the Cure 5K, which began in Kansas City and has now expanded to 26 cities across the country, including San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin. The San Antonio race was brought to life in 2014 after Erin Dempsey, Jim Boyle’s daughter, attended the Austin event and was inspired to honor her father’s legacy in her hometown.
“She reached out to me and said, ‘That was such a great experience. I want to bring Head for the Cure to San Antonio and honor my Dad,’” Matt said.
Now, the event serves not only as a fundraiser for brain cancer research but also as a deeply personal tribute for families grieving loved ones lost to the disease.,
“I miss my brother, of course, and I miss him every day, but I also feel his intense presence,” Matt said. “Chris would not want it to be about him… but his spirit, his energy, his positivity, his ordinariness, you know, that he just wanted to live. That animates everything that we do at Head for the Cure.”
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