THUNDER BAY - Family members, friends, supporters, survivors, and people fighting breast cancer all have unique reasons to run, but they all come together for one reason - to make a change.
On Sunday, more than 520 people lined up on the starting line at the Royal Canadian Legion Track to participate in the 2016 CIBC Run for the Cure.
Events were held across Canada to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Jason Buciurko, vice president for CIBC Northwestern Ontario, said the event, which has raised more than $20 million and has more than 100,000 participants, started out as a grassroots initiative in 1992.
“It’s amazing to see what’s it’s grown to over time,” he said. “All across Canada there are a number of runs taking place. I can’t wait to see what the overall impact is at the end of the day in terms of the funds that have been raised for the fight.”
Bonnie Tittaferrante, run director for the CIBC Run for the Cure, said that this year the run is expected to raise roughly $65,000 in Thunder Bay alone.
“I think Thunder Bay is a great city when it comes to supporting this event,” she said. “We’re making progress. Our survival levels are up and we continue to make things it better and the more support for our survivors and families, the better.”
“When I was 17 years old, my mother died of breast cancer,” Tittaferrante continued. “In the last six years, I decided that it’s my way of giving back and looking for the cure so less families have to go through this.”
The five kilometer run brought together family members, supporters, survivors, and people fighting breast cancer.
Diana Gowanlock has participated in the Run for the Cure in the past, but since her own diagnosis earlier this year, the event has taken on a whole new meaning.
“I’ve done this run before in the past but obviously it means a little bit more since my own diagnosis,” she said. “It’s shocking by how many people are affected by breast cancer. When you look around, there are a lot of pink t-shirts and there are a lot of people who have had it affect their lives somehow.”
There were more than 40 members in team Princess Diana who were all sporting sparkling tiaras, including Rhonda Rooney, who said they were all there for Gowanlock and everyone affected by cancer.
“It makes me feel happy that so many people are so supportive and it makes me feel like I’m part of a community,” she said.
Bociurko said that the Run for the Cure in Thunder Bay always draws so much support because there are so many people who have been impacted by breast cancer.
“I think people want to come out and support the survivors, the people they’ve lost, it’s just such a huge cause that has impacted so many people,” he said.
And the support generated during the Run for the Cure is making huge strides in breast cancer research and care.
“Breast cancer has come a long way over the years,” Gowanlock said. “Many women come through with flying colours. It’s not as much of a life sentence as it used be years ago.”
