Beverly 5k Benefits Brain Cancer Research

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Amy McNicholas says her 14 year old son was a picture of health, an athlete, a baseball player at St. Rita but in 2010 their family received devastating news.

"He was terminal upon diagnosis. He had a malignant tumor in his brain that couldn't be removed."

John McNicholas died 10 months later. After 2 and a half short years, the John McNicholas Foundation has raised a half a million dollars for brain cancer research and this weekend the foundation has been chosen as the beneficiary of this year's Beverly Hills Turkey Trot 5K.

"We are raising money and awareness, but we're really trying to get the money in the hands of the doctors who are going to cure this disease."

The foundation will be awarding a $200,000 scholarship to researchers who are actively looking to cure brain cancer. They have a medical advisory board they are working with (with oncologists from around the globe, including some from Lurie Children's) to choose the person who is making the most advancements to cure brain cancer.

McNicholas says the Beverly area has had six children in the past decade die of brain tumors. The 5K begins at 8 a.m. at Kellogg School.