Three local residents are planning a 5k on Independence Day to not only get people active and engaged over the holiday but also to raise research funds and awareness toward fighting mesothelioma.

The Miles for Meso 5k Run/Walk on July 4 will start at 9 a.m. at the Federal Way Community Center (876 S. 333rd St.) and take participants along the BPA Trail and through Celebration Park. A concurrent quarter-mile kids’ dash around the community center will also be held.

Mesothelioma is a cancer caused primarily by exposure to asbestos. The Miles for Meso 5k Run/Walk is put on by a group of Federal Way women who were made widows by the illness and is held in remembrance of Dick Dyhrman, Bud Hatley, Bob Stewart and other Washington residents affected by mesothelioma.

“We believe, as the mesothelioma foundation believes, that too many patients are still being told that ‘nothing can be done,'” said Diana Stewart in an email. “We are attempting to bring awareness to our friends, community members in Federal Way and Washington state regarding asbestos and mesothelioma.”

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, which describes itself as a “nonprofit collaboration of patients and families, physicians, advocates, and researchers dedicated to eradicating the life-ending and vicious effects of mesothelioma.” Entry to Miles for the Meso 5k Run/Walk is $35, $15 for kids 17 and under, and free for kids 10 and under who are running in the kids’ dash.

“We are very interested in awareness regarding asbestos and prevention of asbestos exposure so that others will not experience what we experienced,” Stewart said. “All three of our husbands’ final career choices were not typical of the employment with a high risk of asbestos exposure.”

The American Society of Clinical Oncology reports that 70-80 percent of people diagnosed with mesothelioma have been exposed to asbestos. According to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, 2,500 to 3,000 people each year are diagnosed with the disease.

Washington, specifically, has one of the highest age-adjusted mesothelioma incident rates in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health. Two suspected reasons are the abundance of serpentine rock in Washington’s mountain ranges – about 95 percent of all commercial asbestos comes from serpentine rock – and the state’s long connection to the shipbuilding industry: The National Cancer Institute has published research that shows high levels of asbestos disease in those who have been employed in shipbuilding.

To register for the Miles for Meso 5k Run/Walk, visit www.active.com.