Eighteen-year-old Benjamin Moore says his little brother, Andrew, is a hero. Personally, I think both Moore boys would qualify for that title — Andrew for his battle against a sarcoma cancer, and Benjamin for planning a novel event to raise money for sarcoma research.

The second annual Be A Superhero: Team Sarcoma 5K will be July 17 at Indian Spring Park. A 1K fun run will be led by a special cast of superheroes and will include a costume contest.

On July 17, the second annual Be A Superhero: Team Sarcoma 5K, which Benjamin began last year, will kick off at the Waco Sus-pension Bridge. The event will include a 5K run, a 5K walk, which both begin at

8:30 a.m., and a 1K fun run at 9:15 a.m. The fun run will be led by a cast of superheroes, and participants are encouraged to dress up as a hero, either of the super variety or a real-life hero, such as a firefighter, police officer, etc.

“When I watched my little brother bravely struggle through multiple surgeries and almost a full year of aggressive chemotherapy treatment, I realized that he was my hero,” said Benjamin, who graduated from Midway High School in June. “By participating in the Team Sarcoma event, everyone can be a hero to those people who are struggling with this disease.”

At the race, awards will be given to the top three male and female finishers in each age bracket of the 5K, as well as to the overall top three winners of the 5K. There also will be a costume contest for all the assembled superheroes. Participants will receive complimentary T-shirts and goodiebags.

The entrance fee for the 5K walk/run is $15 before July 1 and $20 afterward; the fun run fee is $12 before July 1 and $15 thereafter. Walk-up registration will begin at 7 a.m. the day of the race. To register or to get more information, visit www.team-sarcoma.net/2010-events/4714. In its inaugural year, the Team Sarcoma event had 350 participants and raised more than $10,000 for sarcoma research.

By the way, Benjamin also was overjoyed to report that 10-year-old Andrew is doing extremely well, was able to return to school and at his last checkup, had a clean bill of health. As for Benjamin, about a month after the race, he will be off to study at the University of Notre Dame.

TriWaco triathlon

Tri-Waco, a USA Triathlon-sanctioned event, is set for July 25 at Indian Spring Park and other locations around town.

You can consider the Team Sarcoma event as a light warm-up to the next weekend’s race, which will require a little more endurance. Triathletes once again will descend upon Waco in late July for the second annual TriWaco, a USA Triathlon-sanctioned event. After the success of last year’s inaugural TriWaco, which attracted 600 participants, organizers expect more than 700 athletes to take part.

“In all my days of planning events, last year’s TriWaco was the best first-year event I have ever been associated with,” said Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce executive director Steve Smith. “Our course for the swim, bike and run is outstanding. We had some people who were nervous about swimming in the river, but we changed their minds. And running through Cameron Park is always a treat. So we definitely have the ‘stadium’ for a first-class triathlon.”

TriWaco begins at 7 a.m. July 25 at Indian Spring Park. Athletes can participate in either the Olympic triathlon or the sprint distance events. The Olympic triathlon starts with a 1,500-meter open water swim in the Brazos River. Next is a mostly flat and fast 25-mile bike ride on country roads toward China Spring. Finishing out the race is a hilly 10K run along the Brazos River through Cameron Park.

The sprint course includes a 400-meter swim in the Brazos River, a 12-mile bike ride along the same country roads and a 5K run finishing on the Suspension Bridge. Participants also can form relay teams made up of a swimmer, biker and runner. To encourage rookie athletes, the course will be beginner-friendly, with the swimmers never being more than 50 meters from land. Smith emphasized that since the event is sanctioned by the USATA, certain water conditions must be maintained.

“Luckily, we don’t see a lot of debris in the river at this time of year. But if there is any, we will have people out to clean it up,” he said.

Registration costs $85 for the Olympic distance through July 3, or $95 thereafter. Registration costs $70 for the sprint distance through July 3, or $80 thereafter. Online registration is available at TriWaco.org. Participants will receive a T-shirt and running hat.

Waco ISD ‘SurPrizes’

Jim Heston (right) receives a Waco ISD Education Foundation grant for the Carver Academy Robotics Lab from Bruce Gietzen of the ‘SurPrize Patrol.’

More than two dozen teachers from the Waco Independent School District rejoiced in May when they learned their creative classroom projects had been selected to receive a grant from the WISD Education Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Waco ISD. Once again, the locally famous “SurPrize Patrol” made an appearance, complete with checks, lots of clapping and festive noise.

This year, the foundation awarded $113,135 for 33 grants. The grants were selected by a panel of 16 judges who took various details into account. Each judge received a set of at least 15 grants to review in several weeks.

“I think the committee is one of the strong points to this process,” said grant committee co-chair and Waco ISD alumna Penny Chase. “Teachers, administrators and community people are all there. It is a real broad-based group of people, so you don’t get a slant on things.”

Ashley Stephens, a Waco ISD teacher and mother of two students, has helped select grants for three years.

“As a parent, I know these grants are ultimately going to help my kids or someone else’s kids,” she said. “As a teacher, it’s great to know this program is out there so if there’s something you want to do, you know you can accomplish it with this kind of support.”

Teachers receiving grants this year work at Sul Ross Elementary, A.J. Moore, University High, Waco High, South Waco Elementary, University Middle School, Alta Vista Montessori, Meadowbrook Elementary, Cedar Ridge Elementary, North Waco Elementary, Brazos Middle, West Avenue Elementary, Brook Avenue, G.W. Carver Academy, Doris Miller Elementary, Hillcrest Professional Development School, Lake Air Middle School, Crestview Elementary and Provident Heights Elementary. The WISD Fine Arts Elementary School program, the WISD pre-kindergarten Center and WISD Human Resources also received grants.