SAN DIEGO - About 550 people took part in annual community run today that raised between $10,000 and $12,000, all of which will go to help sick children, an organizer said.

The Kiwanis Club will take the money raised from the March Madness Trail Run and turn it over to Children's Hospital in San Diego, said David Imper, race coordinator.

Imper said the amount raised could actually be higher, once all donations are counted.

"It's a community event and a family event," Imper said of the trail run. "We try to make it bigger every year."

When the trail run first began in the late 1990s, it had just 100 participants, he added.

Now in its ninth year, the trail run included four races for either children or adults, a pancake breakfast and a beer garden for those old enough to imbibe.