Annual Race for the Cure raises nearly $900,000
Jack Willems
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: News
Almost 15,500 people visited the Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers early Saturday morning to raise money for those who suffer from breast cancer and to support breast cancer research.
Nearly $900,000 was raised to fight breast cancer, said Allison Levin, executive director of the Ozark chapter of Komen for the Cure.
"It's dynamite," Levin said. "The sponsors love it. The participants love it. We still have people walking around out here."
The 11th annual Susan G. Komen Ozark Race for the Cure in Northwest Arkansas began at 7:30 a.m. that morning with a competitive 5-kilometer race followed by a noncompetitive race at 8 a.m. These events were followed by a 1-kilometer family fun walk and Bark for the Cure, a dog walk, at 8:30.
Komen's goal this year was to have 18,000 participants, said Elaine Thompson, the race chair.
There were 13,500 participants signed up last Wednesday, but the race sees many people sign up in the last week, Thompson said. Furthermore, people could sign up online until midnight the night before the race, as well as from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. the day of the race, Thompson said.
Of those participants who signed up, between 400 and 500 were breast cancer survivors, she said.
"We do see a lot of people sign up in the last few days," she said.
Of the money raised, 75 percent will stay in the eight-county area of NWA to help pay for mammograms and biopsies, as well as to educate people about breast cancer, Thompson said.
The remaining quarter of the money will go to research, she said. Researchers are currently using saliva to determine whether breast cancer is genetic, Thompson said.
Jody Drew of Greenwood has been a breast cancer survivor for two and a half years, and this was her first year to participate in the race, she said.
Drew was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 40 and had two teenagers to take care of, she said. It took 33 radiation treatments and 27 weeks of chemotherapy, but Drew survived.
Nearly $900,000 was raised to fight breast cancer, said Allison Levin, executive director of the Ozark chapter of Komen for the Cure.
"It's dynamite," Levin said. "The sponsors love it. The participants love it. We still have people walking around out here."
The 11th annual Susan G. Komen Ozark Race for the Cure in Northwest Arkansas began at 7:30 a.m. that morning with a competitive 5-kilometer race followed by a noncompetitive race at 8 a.m. These events were followed by a 1-kilometer family fun walk and Bark for the Cure, a dog walk, at 8:30.
Komen's goal this year was to have 18,000 participants, said Elaine Thompson, the race chair.
There were 13,500 participants signed up last Wednesday, but the race sees many people sign up in the last week, Thompson said. Furthermore, people could sign up online until midnight the night before the race, as well as from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. the day of the race, Thompson said.
Of those participants who signed up, between 400 and 500 were breast cancer survivors, she said.
"We do see a lot of people sign up in the last few days," she said.
Of the money raised, 75 percent will stay in the eight-county area of NWA to help pay for mammograms and biopsies, as well as to educate people about breast cancer, Thompson said.
The remaining quarter of the money will go to research, she said. Researchers are currently using saliva to determine whether breast cancer is genetic, Thompson said.
Jody Drew of Greenwood has been a breast cancer survivor for two and a half years, and this was her first year to participate in the race, she said.
Drew was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 40 and had two teenagers to take care of, she said. It took 33 radiation treatments and 27 weeks of chemotherapy, but Drew survived.
Be the first to comment on this story