Mimi Harnish was never much of a runner. Sarge, her white boxer/bulldog mix, certainly wasn’t going to motivate her to head out onto the streets of Philadelphia.

“You couldn’t get that dog to move,” says Harnish. “He was the laziest dog I ever met.”

Sarge, however, would excitedly greet her when she returned from a run. He had been diagnosed with cancer for only a couple months when Harnish, looking for some potential fall races, found a 5K run to benefit canine cancer research.

Sarge never got the chance to greet her after that race. He passed on June 18, 2009, and Harnish hasn’t stopped running since. The same race that inspired her to start fundraising for canine cancer research is now named in part for her beloved Sarge – the Bruiser and Sarge 5K Run/Walk With Your Dog. The race, which goes off on Saturday (Sept. 24) in Allentown, benefits canine cancer research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Harnish has clearly caught the running bug. This summer she helped form a running group, loosely referred to as the Punk Rock Run Club, which is made up of a dozen “weirdo punk and metal kids who are serious about running,” but not necessarily concerned about looking hot in their race pictures. The crew runs on Mondays at places like the Navy Yard, FDR Park, and the Wissahickon. New runners are welcome, email here for more info.

While the Bruiser and Sarge 5K is up north an hour in Allentown’s beautiful Lehigh Parkway, it is a decidedly Philly event. Besides benefiting PennVet, South Philly’s Awesome Dudes Printing is again handling the t-shirts and Harnish has enlisted supporters from the local animal welfare community. While most people have been extremely supportive, Harnish says she occasionally sees someone on Facebook questioning support for cancer research for canines as instead of humans.

“How can it hurt human cancer research?” Harnish asks. “I seriously feel like you’d have to be a pyscho to be opposed to it.”

(Here’s a recent example of how canine cancer research can translate to human benefit)

Harnish, an administrative coordinator for Drexel University’s School of Public Health, recently moved back to the Fairmount/Art Museum area. She spent many fall evenings there in the last decade doing make-up for Halloween corpses and zombies at the Eastern State Penitentiary, but is now hoping to launch a more traditional make-up artist career, doing several weddings in the last year.

These days, though, she’s best known for keeping a very special legacy alive, and drawing attention to a cause close to many.

Says Harnish: “I believe I was meant to find Sarge and to take care of him, and now that he's gone I have a responsibility to try to help other dogs and their human friends from feeling the same loss.”

FK INSIDER
Name: Mimi Harnish

Neighborhood: Fairmount/Art Museum

Job(s): Administrative Coordinator, Drexel University School of Public Health; freelance make-up artist; canine cancer fundraiser

One thing you would change about your 'hood?
I wish there was a dog park for all the dogs to hang out! A designated safe, fenced in place for them to run and play like the one at 25th and Locust would be fantastic. Also the fact that I’ve never seen the inside of the Divine Lorraine in person.

One thing you wouldn't change?
Being so close to so much. Get a delicious iced mocha from Mugshots and take some spooky pictures at Eastern State Penitentiary, watch a regatta on the Schuylkill, see how many times you can run Lemon Hill without puking, drink a fancy beer at Belgian Café, check out bands at North Star Bar, take a class at the Fairmount Art Center.

Some bookmarked local websites?
I check R5 Productions to see what shows are coming up, also No Wavelength for shows and film screenings and other events. I like Cheap Date Philadelphia for ideas on new and inexpensive fun things to do -- You can search by neighborhood, or by what day of the week you’ll be heading out, etc. Neat.

Least favorite Philly cliche?
That it’s a terrible place to live with like, constantly erupting violence everywhere, every day. Things happen everywhere, in every city. A good cliché is the soft pretzel thing. I have found myself having one for breakfast pretty regularly.

You neighborhood's best-kept secret?
I don’t think these are really secrets, but Zorba’s on Fairmount is so, so, so good. Also ERA for Ethiopian. Yowza.

Another neighborhood you wished you lived in? Why?
I’d love to live in South Philly again! It’s got the Philadelphia Archery and Gun Club, tons of good food (I eat at Marra’s the night before any big race, it’s a tradition), cannoli from Termini Brothers -- what’s not to like?

Favorite local musician?
Birth Noise, Far Out Fangtooth, Pissed Jeans, Trophy Wife. Tons and tons of good stuff coming out of Philadelphia! Plus I’m stoked to check out Union Transfer, opening up sometime this month.

For the Mayor’s suggestion box:
Please allocate resources to get our city's youth more involved in positive things. We need more things like the new Paine's Park skateboarding park.

JOE PETRUCCI is managing editor of Flying Kite. Send feedback here.