21st annual Komen OC Race for the Cure

The 21^st annual Komen OC Race for the Cure last Sunday, Sept. 23 was a great success! More than 18,000 attendees lined the streets at Fashion Island to run and walk two 5Ks and participate One-Mile Fun Run. This was our first year featuring a 7:15 am runner start time for the first 5K, which allowed runners more space to compete.

More than 1,200 breast cancer survivors were presented with pink roses during the Survivor Parade and Tribute. The emotional ceremony featured the stories of four incredible women and their fight against breast cancer.

Also present at the Race for the Cure this year was Mark Goldstein, a 79-year-old breast cancer survivor from New Jersey who is an official Komen Race for the Cure ambassador. He participated in his 222^nd Race for the Cure after 24 years of survivorship.

Event organizers expect to meet the $3 million fundraising goal. Preliminary totals, as of Sept. 24, for the 2012 Race for the Cure stand at $2 million.

The annual Komen Orange County Race for the Cure kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which begins in October, and fundraising for Komen Orange County Race will continue through Oct. 31. All donations are appreciated and will be accepted at www.komenoc.org, or by mail to Komen Orange County Affiliate, 3191-A Airport Loop Drive, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626.

Seventy-five percent of the funds raised are invested in local breast cancer awareness and education programs, breast self-examination classes, medical and diagnostic services for uninsured and underinsured women, and other unmet community needs through grants to community breast health organizations.  The remaining 25 percent is dedicated to the Komen Award and Research Grant Program to fund groundbreaking breast cancer research.

Thank you to those who participated, donated and volunteered!

The Benefits of Walking

“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” ~ Henry David Thoreau 

In a recent article entitled “Walk Your Way to Better Health”, RealSimple magazine explains how walking is beneficial to your health in a number of ways. According to the article, walking can “…strengthen your bones, tone your muscles, and trim your waist, and it may reduce your risk of some cancers and other deadly diseases.”

With the Komen OC Race for the Cure only days away, we are excited about the benefits of walking both for individual health and reaching our annual  goal of raising  awareness and funds to  provide local breast cancer treatment. Komen OC provides a variety of community outreach programs to help educate women. They also provide uninsured, low-income women with breast screenings and mammograms. This year, Komen OC is encouraging race participants to raise a minimum of $125; the average cost of a Komen-funded mammogram.

New to the Race this year will be an avid runners start time beginning at 7:15 AM. The other 5K times for both runner and walkers will being at 7:30 AM and 9:45 AM.  

And if none of the above reasons to walk is convincing enough, RealSimple also claims that, “The more you walk, the better your mood and the lower your risk of depression.” (Especially when you’re walking to save lives!)

Real Simple article

• http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/walk-way-better-health-10000001604499/index.html

Early start time

• http://www.komenoc.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=1016557&lis=1&kntae1016557=2FEC01DC053B4E539749A1155E560E23

We hope you can join us at the 2012 Race for the Cure this Sunday, Sept. 23!

Girls Love Mail at the Race for the Cure

Girls Love Mail, a charity based in Sacramento that gives the gift of hand-written letters to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, will be hosting a booth at the Race for the Cure on September 23, 2012.

Founded by breast cancer survivor Gina Mulligan, Girls Love Mail collects hand-written letters of encouragement and distributes them to breast cancer patients through local cancer centers and doctor’s offices. To date, the charity has collected over 1,800 letters from all across the country!

In May 2012, Girls Love Mail participated in the Sacramento Race for the Cure with a small booth where they handed out information about the charity, offered health tips and provided stationery to write letters.

Their booth at the Orange County Race for the Cure will offer the same opportunities. The letters that are collected will be delivered to patients in Orange County.

Join Girls Love Mail in the MILE OF MAIL 2012 campaign to deliver 5,280 letters this year. Find out more at http://www.girlslovemail.com/. And look for Girls Love Mail at the Race for the Cure on September 23rd. Stop by their booth and write a letter!