by Rosemarie Bernardo

A small Hawaii contingent of health-care professionals is headed to California for “The Relay” race this weekend to support organ donation.

It is believed to be the first time runners from Hawaii are part of an official team to participate in the 14th annual event, a 199-mile run from Calistoga to Santa Cruz.

Four women from Hawaii — Dr. Rosemary Adam-Terem, Julie Sestak, Jean Quigley and Pam Kuehl — will be joined by fellow runners from Canada and California. The runners make up the 12-member team called the International Used Parts Department. Some of the teammates from Hawaii and the mainland are originally from New Zealand, England, Australia and other countries.

Already, the team, made up of women between the ages 40 and 57, raised $2,789 to support Organs ‘R’ Us, which makes the team among the top 20 donors for the two-day event. The top donor team, called Know Us by the Trail of Drugs, from Redwood City, Calif., donated $18,236, according to the Web site www.therelay.com.

The race will be divided into three legs. Each runner will run an average of 16 miles. The transfer of the baton from runner to runner will symbolize the transfer of an organ, said Jeff Shapiro, one of the event’s organizers.

The Hawaii participants are all avid runners and were part of a team that won the Hana Relay race last year for the Masters Women Division ages 40 and over. A participant of at least 10 Honolulu Marathon races, Quigley, 47, team captain and a nurse in pediatric oncology at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, said she is looking forward to having fun with her teammates.

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To make a donation, go to www.firstgiving.com/jenniferprattmead or www.firstgiving.com/rosemaryadamterem.

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