2006 CIBC Run for the Cure – the ideas Revolution team had a great walk

For the 2006 CIBC Run for the Cure by Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the ideas Revolution team has expanded! A lucky 13 of us walked the 5-km walk in Calgary yesterday. As part of our tradition, we walked with the Airdrie R & R team to support each other. Special thanks to Jackie and her team for the company and welcoming us for hot breakfast after the walk.

The ideas Revolution team was very happy and excited to see the large crowd gathered at the starting line (especially after some initial miscommunication by this team captain that sent most of our team waiting at the wrong place. Oops. We now know exactly where to wait and what to do next year. ) Together with the other roughly 15,000 participants in Calgary, we started at 9AM under light drizzle.

We walked through very nice beautiful tree-lined residential communities where people show their support of the walk. For example,
– one house has many many teddy bears lined up to support us,
– one house has three giant (20 feet wide?) pink (colour of breast cancer) bras hanging on different trees
– a few gymnastic teams entertained us with their acrobatic acts and cheered us on
– a team of bag-piers were playing their music
– a Hummer dressed up in pink for the day
– and the countless volunteers that provided us with water and also guided our way.

As we walked on, the rain got harder but our spirit was high and I don’t think we felt much of the rain. By the time we finished, our clothing were completely wet. The rain stopped as we reached the finish line about 1.5 hours after we started. Our team took a picture at the finish line and it was a precious moment. If you look closer at my t-shirt pictured above, it was completely wet and I am so proud of it.

One of our ideas Revolution team member said it absolutely right, “Breast cancer is a disease that affects everyone.” It is a disease that can strike women of all ages plus it affects their husbands/partners, their families and their friends. She told me she felt really touched to see so many people walking together in raising funds and awareness to find a cure for breast cancer.

With this blog, I try to keep up myself and my readers up-to-date with the advances in various medical researches. And I truly think that a cure for breast cancer and other forms of cancers may truly be within reach for our next generation if not in our own lifetimes.

If you live in Calgary and wish to join us in 2007 for this very worthy cause, just send me an email.

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Quoting from the official press release,

“15th Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure raises $23.4 million nationwide
More than 170,000 Canadians in 50 communities walk or run for breast cancer “

“Seventy-five per cent of the net funds raised through the Run stay in the regions that generated them to support local research and educational initiatives, while twenty-five per cent fund national research programs,” Harold Kingston, National Board Chair, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, says.

Areas of current research include:
– the impact of diet on the risk of breast cancer
– the effect of environmental factors, such as pesticides and other chemicals, in the development of breast cancer
– the impact of a breast cancer diagnosis on a relationship
– a simpler way to treat breast cancer using small metal seeds implanted in a patient’s breast”

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The following article is from Oct 1st edition of Calgary Sun.

About 15,000 raising money for breast cancer research
By TODD SAELHOF, CALGARY SUN

Rain didn’t dampen the spirits of a record number of Calgarians running and walking today to help find a way to beat breast cancer.

The 15th Annual CIBC Run for the Cure, the city’s largest volunteer-based, single-day fundraising event for the deadly disease, raked in more than $1.5 million for research thanks to the support of about 15,000 hearty participants.

And for cancer survivors like Laurel Sopher, a mom who’s run the last six years and raised $23,000 in the event, the generosity of fellow Calgarians is overwhelming.

“This is something that’s very close to my heart,” said Sopher, a tear in her eye as she praised every man, woman and child for making the morning event a success.

“In 2000, I was diagnosed when I was pregnant, and I had surgery and went through chemotherapy and treatments while I was pregnant before I had my son.

“The surgeon said I probably wouldn’t be alive if I wasn’t pregnant, so Alexander’s my little miracle boy.”

Sopher’s is just one story among thousands of hearty survivors and participants who braved the unwelcome weather, said volunteer race director Heather Webber.

“We were OK with the rain – it didn’t hold anybody back,” Webber said.

“It was an amazing experience watching people coming across the line, smiling, cheering and waving.”

Hoping to top the $1.5 million collected by last year’s 14,000-strong, organizers believe the late money trickling in over the next few days should set a new money mark.

“It’s a big thank-you because I’m a survivor – diagnosed in 2000 – and the disease just set me back to the point where you don’t know who you are emotionally or physically,” Webber said.

“You see events like this where there’s so many people passionate about making a difference, and that’s what jazzes me about being here.”

The throng of runners and walkers, mostly dressed in pink and white, streamed their way from the Southcentre Mall parking lot onto the streets of southeast Calgary at 9 a.m.

Many sported custom-printed T-shirts with team names, while others carried signs with photographs of those stricken with breast cancer for whom they were running.

And participants were decked out in wacky outfits, such as leis, foam hair and cowboy hats – all pink in colour.

Included were brothers Sean and Chad Demers of The Boob Faeries, who ran the 5k in homemade pink tutus.

“What better way to show off our legs – we got nothing but compliments,” said Sean, among a contingent of 12 inspired to raise funds by his cancer-survivor aunts and grandmother.

More than 22,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with the disease in 2006, according to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.