Breast cancer fund-raiser Race for the Cure is a celebration of survival

Four years ago, Nancy Sims-West was going through treatment for breast cancer.

"It was obviously a struggle and a battle," she said. "There were days when I couldn't move because of the chemotherapy, and my husband and sons had to take care of themselves."

The treatment worked, and Sims-West ran five kilometers with her son in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday.

She was one of about 5,000 people who participated in the annual event at Balloon Fiesta Park, which this year raised more than $200,000, race organizers said.

About 75 percent of the money will pay for mammograms and other services for low-income women in central New Mexico, said Vicki Macaulay, co-chairwoman of the race. The other 25 percent goes to the national Komen Foundation Research Program.

Sims-West said that although there is plenty of awareness about breast cancer, more is always better.

She hopes the race will convince legislators to pay more attention to breast cancer issues, she said.

Although the event was centered around running, the most important aspect was recognizing women who beat cancer, said Marty Wilson, event co-chairwoman.

Before the running and walking began, an audience applauded a stage full of breast cancer survivors wearing pink T-shirts and holding signs telling how many years they have survived.

The numbers on the signs ranged from three weeks to 42 years.

"It gives you an anniversary to check off another year of being alive," said Wilson, herself a survivor. "To stand up and have all these people recognize you is really moving."

Sims-West said the event builds a sense of solidarity between survivors.

"It's a really emotional day," she said. "You have a great sense that you're not alone in your problems, that there are other people who understand."

The race began in Dallas in 1983. Nancy Goodman Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, the organization's namesake, that she would fight breast cancer, according to the organization's Web site.

Komen died at age 36.

Since it was founded in 1999, the Central New Mexico branch of the organization has raised more than $1 million.

But more good things come out of the race than camaraderie and money, said Berlynn Youngblood, who attended in support of her friend and mother, both victims of breast cancer.

"I never run," she said. "This is some of the only exercise I'm going to get."
source:www.abqtrib.com