Run for a Reason: 6th Annual Positive Pursuits 5K Returns to D.C. for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers, on September 12th
Runners, walkers and cyclists will take over Hains Point on September 12th for the 6th Annual Positive Pursuits 5k+20k bike ride, a Washington, D.C., race built around supporting cancer survivors, caregivers and patients facing the everyday challenges that can come with treatment.
Hosted by Positive Deposits Inc., this year’s event includes a 5K run and walk, a 20K bike ride and a virtual option for participants who cannot attend in person. Check-in begins at 8:15 a.m., stretching starts at 8:30 a.m., and participants hit the course at 9 a.m.
The 2026 campaign has a $10,000 fundraising goal, with support benefiting the Howard University Cancer Center Patient Assistance Fund. The fund helps address needs that can make an already difficult treatment process harder, including transportation to medical appointments, food insecurity and necessary self-care expenses.
For someone looking at Positive Pursuits for the first time, it may appear to be another cause-driven race on Washington’s crowded running calendar. Its origin, however, is personal.
Positive Deposits founder and president Presley Nelson Jr. is a two-time cancer survivor. During a recent DC Now Events Small Biz Takeover interview, Nelson said it was his second cancer diagnosis that changed how he thought about life after treatment and eventually influenced what Positive Deposits would become.
“A lot of people focus on the treatment piece of it,” Nelson said. “But on the flip side, it’s like, what happens next after the fact? The mental health, the emotional piece and things of that nature.”
That question stayed with him.
Nelson, whose professional background is in banking, initially considered starting a nonprofit focused on financial wellness. As he began sharing his own cancer story, he saw a different need. Survivors and caregivers needed places to talk about what they were experiencing, hear from others who understood it and know they were not navigating cancer alone.
Positive Pursuits began virtually during the pandemic, when traditional gatherings were largely off the table. What started as a way to keep people connected continued after in-person events returned.
Nelson also wanted that work to reach communities he believed were not always receiving the same attention from larger cancer organizations.
During the interview, he recalled approaching an established cancer organization about doing more in Southeast Washington rather than concentrating programming in places such as Rockville. Nelson declined to identify the organization and said the conversation did not lead to additional outreach.
Instead of waiting, he continued building his own.
Positive Pursuits has since moved through locations including Anacostia and Hains Point, with survivors, caregivers, family members and supporters returning year after year.
For Nelson, the race has never been the organization’s endpoint.
“The events are just a vehicle to keep the mission moving,” he said.
That philosophy extends beyond race day.
Positive Deposits has supported people through care packages, patient assistance efforts and programs designed to keep survivors and caregivers connected. Nelson said the packages themselves do not have to be elaborate. Sometimes the value is simply in someone receiving an unexpected reminder that another person thought about them after a diagnosis.
He applies the same thinking to caregivers.
Rather than arriving with assumptions about what someone going through cancer needs, Nelson encourages caregivers to ask a simpler question: How do you want me to show up?
He remembers friends who continued treating him normally during his own treatment. That sense of normalcy mattered.
Six Years Later, the Race Is Still Growing
The 6th Annual Positive Pursuits arrives with a deeper connection to patient assistance through Howard University Cancer Center.
Nelson said Positive Deposits began supporting patients there during the pandemic by bringing food and gift bags to the cancer center. That relationship has continued, and this year’s fundraising effort connects race participation to assistance for patients dealing with costs and needs outside the treatment room.
The race has also attracted a growing mix of corporate and community support.
smartwater is serving as the official hydration partner for this year’s event. Nelson also named Prince Cafe, Athletic Brewing and Matcha Mami among businesses expected to participate, while other community partners have helped broaden the network around the race.
Nelson traces some of that growth back to relationships formed long before anyone asked for sponsorship.
During the Small Biz Takeover interview, he explained that his connection to smartwater came through someone whose basketball event he had previously supported.
“You gotta support other people so they will support you,” Nelson said.
That approach has helped Positive Pursuits develop from a virtual pandemic race into a recurring D.C. gathering with outside partners, returning participants and a growing fundraising purpose.
The work is also beginning to stretch beyond what happens each September.
Nelson revealed that Positive Deposits is developing a patient and caregiver assistance pilot projected for next year. The early concept includes microgrants that could help with expenses such as copays, groceries and transportation, alongside mental health support and a survivor retreat.
It is a natural extension of the question that helped shape the organization in the first place: What does someone need when treatment is only one part of the cancer experience?
On September 12th, one answer will take the form of people running, walking and cycling through Hains Point.
For some, it will be a workout. For others, a way to honor someone affected by cancer. For survivors and caregivers, it may be another place to find people who understand the experience.
And for Positive Deposits, it is another step in work Nelson says cannot be rushed.
“We have to build it brick by brick,” he said, “one program, one partnership and even one person at a time.”
6th Annual Positive Pursuits
Saturday, September 12th, 2026
Hains Point Picnic Area, Washington, D.C.
5K Run & Walk | 20K Bike Ride | Virtual Option
Check-in: 8:15 a.m.
Stretching: 8:30 a.m.
Race starts: 9 a.m.
Fundraising goal: $10,000
Benefiting: Howard University Cancer Center Patient Assistance Fund
