There'll also be on-site registration Saturday morning from 6:30-8:00 a.m...with various races/walks following. LBREPORT.com will be on-scene to provide LIVE webcast coverage starting at roughly 7:20 a.m...and running through midmorning.

In the school auditorium, guests on Friday night got a preview of what participants and visitors will see on Saturday. A video collage with music plays continuously in the auditorium, displaying photos of the Thayer family with Jalen and Breanna.

Guests can then pass through the adjacent cafeteria where text pages describe Breanna's and Jalen's lives and their journeys (photo shows volunteers putting the text pages up).

On Friday night, volunteers and event participants previewed the pages. Eloquently and unflinchingly written, they pack an emotional wallop and once read are unforgetable.

Several pages describe the nationwide physical, emotional, financial and medical tolls inflicted by childhood cancers, and the relatively small sums currently spent for treatments and cures.

Breanna and Jalen's Dad, Lance Thayer, came to the auditoium stage, standing alongside wife Jennifer, and told the audience that adding the phrase "Childhood Cancer Awareness" to the event's name was deliberate: to raise awareness of how common these especially deadly childhood cancers are. For on-demand VIDEO of Mr. Thayer's remarks, click here or on video icon below:

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The Thayers' daughter, Breanna, died of brain cancer at age 4. Their son, Jalen, watched this take place...only to be diagnosed at age 13 with brain cancer which took his life at age 15. Jalen was a straight A student at ELB's Newcomb Elementary School, as well as a star athlete...and played the saxophone.

Jalen Thayer coined the phrase, "Have Faith, Be Strong" as he fought his cancer with courage and unflagging optimism.

The event's Facebook page states:

We now have people from 5 continents, 10 countries and 12 states participating in this year's event. U.S.A., Canada, England, Italy, Brazil, Uganda, Bulgaria, Austalia, Honduras and now Ghana are now added to our map of participants. Who will be next? We have North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. We hope to get participation in Asia as well.

...We now have 3 registered in Mountain View, CA. We have 2 who ran in San Francisco and 2 more who ran in Berkeley. Our friend in Florida participated last year and will be running again this year. In all we have people registered from California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Washington DC, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Alaska, Canada, Italy, Brazil, England, Bulgaria, Uganda, Australia and Ghana. There are 50 states in the U.S. and 205 countries in the world. Our goal is to get people participating from all 50 states and all around the world.

...[C]ontact us and we will waive the fee and register you to participate and add your city/state/country to our map of participants.

Do it for the kids sake. Do it to help raise childhood cancer awareness. Jalen would tell people who were making excuses "Just do it!" Enough said. Have Faith Be Strong would like to thank all of our supporters. God bless you!

The event benefits Have Faith, Be Strong, formed in honor and memory of Jalen & Breanna Thayer. Breanna was age 4 and her brother Jalen was age 15 when they both succumbed to brain cancers. The family lived in East Long Beach.

Breanna, Samuel, Bailey, Jalen, Mom & Dad at La Jolla Beach in 2003

Jalen, Breanna and their Mom in 2004

This year's event takes place on June 8 (starting at 8 a.m.) at Patrick Henry School, 3720 Canehill Ave. in Long Beach and includes a 5K race, a non-competitive 5K run/walk, and Kids races.

[Have Faith, Be Strong Facebook page text] Have Faith Be Strong was started by our son, Jalen, who at age 13 was diagnosed with cancer. It was only a few years earlier that his little sister, Breanna, lost her battle to cancer at the age of 4.

Our family was devastated beyond belief.

Despite what Jalen had witnessed as his little sister Breanna battled cancer and lost her life in the end, he had faith that God would get him through it. He came up with the slogan HAVE FAITH BE STRONG. Jalen was determined to be strong and not allow cancer to take his life.

Jalen continued going to school and finished middle school with a perfect 4.0 gpa. He continued playing the saxophone in the band as well. And most impressive was he continued to compete in the sports that had always been a part of his life.

Jalen wanted to help other kids who were going through cancer treatment. He wanted to write a book and he started a charity with his brothers to help other kids like himself and his little sister Breanna.

We are here to continue the work started by Jalen in the memory of his little sister Breanna. Have Faith Be Strong is that organization.

Jalen was present on March 31, 2011, just days before his passing, as the entire student body, faculty and staff of ELB's Newcomb K-8 Academy assembled to name its athletic field in his honor (coverage, click here).

The mission of Have Faith, Be Strong is to increase awareness of childhood cancer and help children diagnosed with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and their families go through their struggles together. As a dispatch on the Have Faith, Be Strong Facebook page notes, during the recent the three day weekend, roughly 21 children were taken by childhood cancer...including Bella and Brennan.

The June 8 Jalen and Breanna Thayer Memorial Run-Walk will include a childhood cancer awareness memorial banner and a prayer banner to honor all of the children affected by childhood cancer.

[Have Faith, Be Strong Facebook text]: The memorial banner will be for all of the children who lost their lives to cancer. The prayer banner will be for all of the children still in the struggle with cancer. Anyone who would like their child's name on either banner we ask that they send us a picture and basic information. We hope to have names, dates, type of cancer, and where you live. This year we will have a childhood cancer awareness virtual journey walking the steps of a child from good health to diagnosis, treatment and beyond. It will be a moving experience. We hope to see you there.

Even if you can't attend personally, you can still support the event by registering and running on your own or forming a "satellite group". Organizers say this event has already drawn participants registering in Africa, Europe, and across the U.S. (visible on the event's Facebook page.

For the second year in a row, LBREPORT.com plans to webcast the event LIVE with on-demand video available thereafter. We urge our readers to take part...and to pass on this story to your Facebook and other friends.