Hundreds of runners lace it up for Metro Way 5k

Hundreds of runners braved the heat Wednesday, lacing it up for the Metro Way 5k in Wyoming.

The runners included Fox 17's Josh Berry. Josh and Fox 17 helped emcee the event that raises money for free and low cost "Live Healthy Programs" through the University of Michigan Health-West.

"We're going to raise some money for a foundation which supports some tremendous programs, community health, wellness education," explained Dr. Ron Grifka, Hospital President. "We're gonna have over 500 runners. So we're really excited about that."

It was a warm one out there for the runners with feels-like temperatures around 94. The racers still showed up for a good cause though. Close to $80,000 was raised to support the community health and wellness events.

We talked with UM Health-West's Chief Community Officer, Greg Meyer about the programs that benefit. He says they include both free and low cost diabetes prevention, weight loss, and prenatal care programs.

"And it's just trying to get our community healthy," Meyer added. "What better way to do that than an event that promotes health and welfare."

The event's first place finisher was Matt Smith of Wyoming with a time of 16:48. That's a pace of 5:24/mile.

You can see race results here .

Also of note: Josh serves on the UM Health-West impACT Board, which helps at events like this and supports other hospital foundation initiatives.

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