WASHINGTON — If you were around the National Mall on Saturday morning you probably saw lots of people wearing pink — men, women and children. That’s because some 15,000 people, including 1,500 survivors, took part in this year’s Susan G. Komen D.C. “Race for the Cure” 5K walk/run and the one required color: pink.
Saturday’s race raised over $1 million, which should help toward combating this area’s staggering breast cancer statistics. According to the Susan G. Komen organization, the D.C. area has the highest mortality rate in the country for breast cancer.
“Breast cancer survivors are some of the most strongest women on the planet,” says Lisa Gray from Alexandria. She speaks from experience — she’s a 15-year breast cancer survivor. She’s also this year’s Race for the Cure “Survivor of the Year.”
“It’s an awesome experience to be here (Race for the Cure) as a 15-year survivor to see all the survivors,” says Gray. “There’s a lot of support here and it makes you realize you are not alone.”
Every 60 seconds one woman, somewhere in the world, dies from breast cancer. That’s about a half a million people who will die this year from breast cancer, according to the Komen organization.
The grand marshal for this year’s Race for the Cure was sporting a hot-pink tee-shirt that read “Hulkamania.” WWE hall of famer Hulk Hogan said he jumped all over the chance to a part of this cause.
“I want this disease stomped, beat-up that’s why I’m here with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) because with the people creating awareness like this, there’s a chance we can wipe this disease out and none of the beautiful women in this world will ever have to worry about it again,”
Hogan has a 27-year daughter, and as a parent, is concerned about her health in the future. So he’d like to see breast cancer to be a thing of the past. “We’re right around the corner of making this (breast cancer) go away forever,” he said.
He says he loved wrestling, and he had his run, but he’s 61-years old and says he has another cause. “And that’s being in service to others, to help people in this world and to be a part of all these heroes, these breast cancer survivors that fight every single day and live in the moment because they never know when that moment might end. To be a part of that cause, that’s why I’m here.”
Talking about her breast cancer battle, Gray says, “It was hell. It was really horrible. Very surprising, I had no family history, no risk factors at all and I was diagnosed on a regular mammogram. So I had mastectomies, chemo and radiation and 10-years of oral chemotherapy and now I’m volunteering and thriving and I hate cancer.”
Since the start of this race in D.C. in 1990, $35 million have been raised for local programs in the National Capital area, which target low-income, uninsured and minority women.
