Southampton - At the fourth annual Strides For Life 5K Run/Walk, The Lung Cancer Research Foundation raised more than $350,000 for its research grant program. The 1,000-plus competitors could attest that, quite appropriately, their lungs were put to good use on their tour of Southampton on a sweltering Sunday morning.

Brendan Blaney, a junior at Tufts, won the Strides For Life 5K handily on Sunday with a time of 17 minutes, 20 seconds.

A crowd of kids led the pack of 1,000-plus walkers and runners north on Pond Lane in Southampton. Once everyone had departed Agawam Park, at speeds ranging from blistering to leisurely, it was Brendan Blaney who made his grand return first. The junior quantitative economics major at Tufts hit the tape at 17:20 to take first place overall, setting a pace of 5:36 per mile. After a busy summer, he heads back for his third year with the Jumbos, one of the top Division III track programs in New England.

"I raced two weeks ago and it was just brutal, steaming hot," Blaney said. "This race was nice because there's shade. I felt great for the first mile. I was with [Kingsley Carson] and she pushed me along, set a good pace, and it was just clear sailing from there."

Carson, the niece of Laurie Carson, the founder of the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, placed second and was tops in the women's division with a time of 17:45. Last year, Carson came up two seconds shy of Tara Farrell to win the division; this time, the New York City resident raised her arms in triumph as she hit the finish line.

Steven Feldman took third place and won the Under-18 boys division with a time of 18:20. Team JPS of Huntington was named the team winner on the day.

Supermodel Christy Turlington-Burns was the event's honorary chair. Her father, Dwain, died from lung cancer 12 years ago and she called enduring his final few weeks "horrible" because of how the cancer debilitated his lungs. However, given his nicotine addiction, she said the news of him being diagnosed as "no surprise" considering his history of smoking. Of those who have fallen victim to lung cancer were Laurie Carson's brother, who never smoked, and uncle, who hadn't smoked for 20 years by the time he passed. It's those patients among the 215,000 diagnosed annually who especially suffer from the lack of attention to and awareness of lung cancer.

News anchor Rosanna Scotto makes her way toward the finish line with daughters Jenna and L.J. on each arm.

"I think that's one of the big challenges with the issue, and then educating people that it's not only around tobacco and smoking," said Turlington-Burns, who lives in New York City and vacations in East Hampton. "I think there are more and more environmental causes that are seeming to be connected to it. It affects everybody. There's nothing like a run that makes you feel aware of your respiratory system."

FOX 5 news anchor Rosanna Scotto was also welcomed back to serve as the master of ceremonies and praised the crowd for supporting lung cancer research in her pre-race pep speech.

Laurie Carson was astounded and touched by the community response four years after the inaugural race in 2006. "It's building, it's thriving," she said. "We really are making strides every year. It's particularly special for me because I'm a native of Southampton. I grew up here, as did my brother and uncle who lost the battle with lung cancer, and my grandfather was a former mayor. So to see all of the other families come out and support their families and friends, I know that it's something my family would be very proud of, to see what a difference we've made."

Since its founding, the LCRF has raised more than $1.7 million to expedite research and possible cures that will claim approximately 160,000 lives this year in the United States alone. Last year, the foundation handed out 10 cutting-edge research grants totaling $500,000, also acknowledging Rachel M.A. Linger Ph.D. at the University of Colorado-Denver with the 2008 LCRF Scientific Merit Award for the project "Novel Biologically Targeted Therapy for the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)."

In its four years, the Strides For Life 5K in Southampton has raised more than $1.7 million for lung cancer research grants.