5k event raises funds for Marines and their families

About 400 people ran in support of a local Marine battalion Saturday in Huntington Beach.

The fourth annual 3/1 5k Fun Run/Walk, presented by the Huntington Beach Municipal Employees Assn. and the 3/1 Marines Foundation, supports the 3rd Battalion/1st Marines, which is based at Camp Pendleton, and their families.

The event also included a pancake breakfast served by Huntington Beach firefighters. Councilwoman Jill Hardy sang the national anthem.

As of Tuesday morning, the group had counted $12,000 from Saturday’s event, said Judy Graham, president of the Huntington Beach Municipal Employees Assn. She said the tallying of proceeds should be completed by early next week.

The money supports projects, programs and other activities benefiting the city’s “adopted” 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

“We just kind of take care of what they need or whatever may come up,” Graham said.

Members of the battalion who had been deployed in previous years joined in the fun, some running in cadence to kick off the event.

Graham, whose father was in the military, said she thinks it’s important to support those who serve.

“I grew up in the 1970s, and the military was treated very differently than it is today,” she said. “I just believe having any type of support for any of our families in our military is so welcome.”