Walkers and runners will be seeking to raise $50,000 in the third annual Free to Breathe Atlanta run/walk on Aug. 18 at John Howell Park in Virginia-Highland.

More than 600 are expected to set off at 8:35 a.m. Event day registration is $30.

Top race finishers and fund-raisers will be recognized. There will be an honor/memory wall where participants can share photos, mementos and thoughts.

Amy Waggoner, the coordinator, said the fund-raiser connects people whose lives have been touched by lung cancer.

“Together, we’re building a movement of people committed to finding a cure for all types of lung cancer within our lifetime,” said Waggoner, a Decatur family law attorney who lost her friend and law partner, Elyse Aussenberg, to lung cancer in 2010.

Waggoner said response to the benefit walk/race is growing.

“Over half of the teams participating in this year’s race are returning from last year,” she said, “and we are working hard to make the event better and more successful every year.”

This year, more than 40 Free to Breathe events will take place in 26 states and bring together tens of thousands of people to help increase awareness about lung cancer and raise funds for programs that help patients.

The National Lung Cancer Partnership started Free to Breathe with a single 5K run and walk in Philadelphia in 2006. Since then, the series has raised more than $5.6 million with 100 percent of the net proceeds directly funding programs to help everyone affected by lung cancer.

John Howell Park is at Virginia Avenue and Barnett Street near Inman Middle School. For more information or to donate, sponsor or volunteer, visit www.FreeToBreathe.org.