Runners line up at the starting line of the 2008 Komen El Paso Race for the Cure, held Sunday at Smith-Bliss Field on Fort Bliss. Photo by Heather Wilburn.
Race for the Cure
Thousands gather at Smith-Bliss Field to battle breast cancer
Sunday morning, a sea of pink covered Smith-Bliss Field on Fort Bliss as more than 14,000 supporters came out to take part in the 16th annual Komen El Paso Race for the Cure.
The 2008 Komen El Paso Race for the Cure raised almost $275,000 to fight breast cancer, 75 percent of which will remain in El Paso to fund nonprofit organizations dedicated to cancer education, screening and treatment.
The money raised by events like the Komen Race for the Cure really does help save lives, said Cathy Stephens, a breast cancer survivor.
“(Tuesday marked) a year since my diagnosis,” said Stephens. “I'm just getting my hair back.
“It feels really good to be out here today,” she said. “It's amazing, the things research can do for you, because I never thought I was going to die. … You survive, you can, and it's all because of the treatment and medicine that they've come up with because of the money raised by events like this.”
Kellum Stephens, left, and Alan Stephens wear pink signs honoring breast cancer survivor Cathy Stephens. Photo by Heather Wilburn.
Stephens, who was surrounded and supported by Alan Stephens, Kellum Stephens, Kellsey Stephens, Austin Simonds and Mona Morales, said she had never before participated in the Komen Race for the Cure.
“I've never run in the race before,” she said. “I guess if the race was around this time last year, I was just finding out that I had cancer.”
This year, however, the race was a personal affair.
“It's really special,” Stephens said, with tears in her eyes. “It's really special just to be alive.”
Stephens was one of the 178,480 women and 2,030 men the American Cancer Society estimates received a new diagnosis of breast cancer last year. ACS numbers estimate about 40,500 women and 500 men died from breast cancer in 2007 alone.
Information from Susan G. Komen for the Cure estimates that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
Runners in the 2008 Komen El Paso Race for the Cure, held Sunday at Smith-Bliss Field on Fort Bliss, run down Chaffee Road shortly after the race begins. Photo by Heather Wilburn.
Through fundraising events like the Komen Race for the Cure, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure El Paso Affiliate, now in its 16th year, has produced more than $2.2 million to provide breast cancer education, screening and treatment resources in El Paso County.
For more information on the El Paso Affiliate, visit www.elpasokomen.org.