A History of the Edward I. Moses Walk/Run for Life
By Warren Dyke
December 2017
On the Origin and Success of the E.I. Moses Annual Event
In the spring of 1979, the Board of the St. Lawrence County unit of the American Cancer Society sanctioned a 125 mile run around St. Lawrence County to highlight the annual house to house campaign to bring awareness and collect donations from residents of the County. As organized by Warren Dyke (with great assistance and volunteer support from participants along the route), the run would begin in Brasher Falls and continue to Winthrop, Massena, Waddington, Ogdensburg, Heuvelton, Canton, Potsdam, Parishville, Hopkinton, Nichoville, North Lawrence, and then back to Brasher Falls.
After this first run Mark Brackett (and many Kinney Drugs employees who ran the Heuvelton to the intersection of routes 812 and 11 leg of the run), contacted Warren with the proposal that Kinney Drugs was interested in becoming the Corporate sponsor in return for naming the event in memory of past Kinney Drugs President Edward I. Moses who had succumbed to cancer. In the next three years, a spoke approach was developed with participants running in from Potsdam, Waddington, Colton, Ogdensburg, Russell, and Gouverneur. In the interest of participant safety, the event moved to the St. Lawrence University Campus with the Support of the United States Army recruiting personnel and out and back route on the Miner Street Road with REACT members supplying their assistance for safety and moral support of participants’ efforts.
Raising funds in the fight against cancer became the focus of the annual event. By the 10th annual event in 1988, a total of approximately $100,000 had been cumulatively raised, by the 20th annual event in 1998 the total had reached $280,000. In 1999-$27,500, 2000-$31,000, 2001-$37,000, 2002-$48,000, 2003-$53,000, 2004-$63,000, 2005-$67,500, 2006-$75,000, 2007-$77,777 (for a cumulative total of $777,777), 2008-$85,000, 2009-$93,000, 2010-$102,000, (for a cumulative total one million fifty eight thousand), 2011-$82,000, 2012-$70,000, 2013-$75,000, 2014-$90,000, 2015-$80,000, 2016-$70,000 and 2017-$65,000 (for a cumulative total of 1.6 million dollars). A commemorative t-shirt became the initial incentive for participants; sponsors from all corners of the County bought advertising space on these t-shirts; when that total is added to the effective amount raised in the fight against cancer in St. Lawrence County the cumulative total has reached approximately one and three quarter million dollars from the past 39 years of the annual E. I. Moses Walk/Run for Life.