The seventh annual Miles for Meso Washington Memorial 5K run/walk hits the streets of Federal Way on the Fourth of July.

The race will start and end in the parking lot of the Federal Way Community Center, 876 S. 333rd St.. It runs on city streets and through Celebration Park on part of the BPA Trail and features beautiful views of Mount Rainier.

The event starts at 8:45 a.m. with a Kid’s Dash, and the starting gun for the 5K goes off at 9 a.m. The run is followed by an awards ceremony and will feature prize giveaways.

The walk/run is a fundraiser benefiting the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. The Federal Way event was started by three women who lost their husbands to mesothelioma as a memorial to them and to all of the residents in Washington state who have died from this disease.

Dick Dyhrman, Bud Hatley and Bob Stewart all worked in Federal Way and were active in the community.

Dyhrman was a geologist for the Weyerhaeuser Company, Hatley was the athletic director for Federal Way Public Schools and Stewart was a teacher and coach at Federal Way High School.

Mesothelioma is a non-curable form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos. Washington state ranks 10th in the nation for incidence of this disease.

Nationwide, approximately 3,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is helping fund research to find a cure, working with patients and their families to find appropriate treatment and working with the state Legislature to get a ban on asbestos.

To register for the run, visit www.active.com. General event information can be found at meso5kwa.com.

Call 253-835-6900 or visit the Federal Way Community Center for more information or to register in person.