When Jenny Corgiat contacted her orthodontist, Bryan Roos of Redmond, for sponsorship for Team Jenny in the 2011 Nordstrom Beat the Bridge to Beat Diabetes, she had hoped for a donation to her team’s fundraising efforts.

Instead, the staff at Roos Orthodontics decided to go a step further and enter into the 8K race themselves. Five staff members at the orthodontics office participated in the event.

The 8K run, which was May 14, had two challenges: To beat the University Bridge, which is at the two-mile mark of the race, before it is raised and to cross the finish line in Husky Stadium.

Diagnosed with diabetes at 4, Jenny, now 11, has been a patient at Roos Orthodontics for almost two years. She is in the fifth-grade and doing well. Ultimately though, her family hopes that one day she will be diabetes free.

Since the first Beat the Bridge race in 1983, Nordstrom has partnered with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JRDF) to find a cure for diabetes and its related complications through the support of research and research related education.

The Beat the Bridge is part of the Walk to Cure Diabetes, an annual walkathon held in more than 200 locations in 13 countries to benefit JDRF. More than 750,000 men, women and children will participate this year. The Walk to Cure Diabetes raised over $107 million last year for diabetes research.

Beat the Bridge consists of an 8k run, four-mile family walk, one-mile fun run and a diaper derby for toddlers.

For more information visit www.beatthebridge.org.