Proud Pink Perseverance
May 10th, 2009
Over 17,000 turn out for the 2009 Race for the Cure
by Rebecca Edwards
A sea of pink t-shirts bearing slogans like "Bookin' for Boobies," "Save 2nd Base," and "Big or Small, Save Them All" added to the air of jubilation, empowerment, and overwhelming unity that permeated the Gateway this morning at Salt Lake City's 13th annual Race for the Cure. As the largest 5k in Utah, the Race for the Cure brings out young and old, male and female, survivors and those remembering loved ones who lost the fight.
It was amazing to see the masses of people who were all gathered because breast cancer had, in some way, impacted their lives. I felt honored to be there, having a grandmother who is a survivor and an aunt who succumbed to the disease. The majority of people took an irreverent attitude, as evidenced by the t-shirt slogans, pink tutus, and heads of pink hair. It was impossible; however, not to get choked up on and off throughout the morning.
"While I was walking I kept tearing up," Ashley, who was participating for the first time, said. "People are wearing those "In Memory" back tags and some just have a list of names. I really thought I was going to cry."
Ashley was there as one of many supporting Liz Green, a four-year survivor. Liz was diagnosed four years ago this June and she brought out three generations of her family to support the cause. Her daughter, Cacia, said, "I feel in a sense, that this is a way to support my mom. It's more of a tribute to her."
This was the second time that Liz had participated. "It's so much fun," Liz said. "There's really a neat spirit."
Breast cancer isn't something that Liz and her daughter normally talk about, but both said that since Liz was diagnosed it's kind of always in the background. Liz likes to stay positive and celebrate the life she feels blessed with, but remembers others who were not as lucky.
"I had several friends that I started out with when I was diagnosed," she shared. "And two for sure are gone. It's kind of, I don't want to say scary, but I wonder how come they're gone and I'm not? I don't know if they had it any worse than I did to start out."
Liz says that although her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 82, she was never worried about it. However, she now worries about her daughter. There were many shockingly young women at the race wearing survivor t-shirts and walking with their young children. Cacia, who is 31, hasn't had a mammogram because her doctor said the breast tissue would be too dense and they wouldn't be able to see anything. Since early detection is often the key to beating breast cancer, it's worrisome that there is no effective breast cancer screening tool for women 40 and under.
Liz's crew, although tired after getting up around 6am this morning, felt very inspired after participating and immediately started making plans to come back next year with a larger team and custom t-shirts with a catchy slogan (some of my other favorites today were "Jigglers," "Bra Bandits," "Bust Busters," and "Harleys for Hooters") and lists of those the team wants to remember and the survivors they want to celebrate.
The number of participants today was estimated to be over 17,000, and Race organizers had a goal of raising more than $2 million. To celebrate the 13th year, the organizers asked all participants to ask 13 friends to donate $13.00 to help reach that ambitious goal. If you want to make a donation, send contirbutions to the Salt Lake City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure! at PO Box 522320, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105. Online donations are not available at this time.
Breast Cancer websites and resources:
Association of Community Cancer Centers-Web site: www.accc-cancer.org
Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, Inc. (FORCE)-Web site: www.facingourrisk.org
Fertile Hope-Web site: www.fertilehope.org
Mary-Helen Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer-Web site: www.mautnerproject.org
National Breast Cancer Coalition-Web site: www.natlbcc.org
National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information ServiceWeb site: www.cancer.gov
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health-Web site: www.nccam.nih.gov
Sisters Network, Inc.-Web site: www.sistersnetworkinc.org
Young Survival Coalition-Web site: www.youngsurvival.org
CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service-provides information on clinical trials and specific studies currently being conducted.
Web site: www.centerwatch.com
Health World Online-provides information on all aspects of health, disease, prevention and wellness.
Web site: www.healthy.net
M.D. Anderson-provides information on how to integrate complementary/integrative therapies into patient care.
Web site: www.mdanderson.org/departments/cimer
National Lymphedema Network-provides information for dealing with lymphedema.
Web site: www.lymphnet.org
National Cancer Institute Cancer Fact Sheets-provides an index of all the National Cancer Institute Cancer Fact Sheets.
Web site: http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/index.htm
University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center-has cancer specialists helping cancer patients, families, health care professionals and the general public get accurate cancer-related information.
Web site: www.oncolink.upenn.edu
Breast Cancer Support Groups
Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization-includes trained volunteers, all of whom are breast cancer survivors
Phone: 1-800-221-2141 (English)
1-800-986-9509 (Spanish)
Web site: www.y-me.org
CancerCare Online-offers online support groups for people who have cancer as well as their partners and family members
Phone: 1-800-813-HOPE
Web site: www.cancercare.org
Reader Comments
Kathie Bischke
That was an awesome story. It really does touch home with me. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, and my sister died due to breast cancer. I can just imagine the emotions on such an occassion.
Jana
Awesome story! We were there with my mom, a 14 year survivor, and it is an amazingly emotional event. My mom's "In Memory" sign had 8 friends on it--all from our neighborhood.
Squeeze 'em to keep 'em!! (That was one of my favorites!)
