We race for the people

Melinda Lipinski is the reason we race.

We race against time for survivors like her and for future

survivors of breast cancer.

Sadly, there are not enough survivors yet.

So we still need to race.

That’s why, two Sundays ago, some 22,000 survivors and supporters

donning pink T-shirts joined up in the Komen Orange County Race for

the Cure at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and made a statement for

people like Lipinski.

It was a year ago that the 47-year-old Huntington Beach resident

was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she’s been fighting it ever

since with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.

But she’s hardly unique.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation, the leader in the fight against

this dreaded disease, notes the following about breast cancer:

“An estimated 215,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer are

expected to occur among women in the United States during 2004,”

according it the foundation’s website. “An estimated 40,110 women

will die from breast cancer. It is estimated that 1,450 men will be

diagnosed and 470 men will die of breast cancer during 2004. At this

time, there are slightly more than 2-million women living in the

United States who have been diagnosed with and treated for breast

cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cancer site among American women

and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths. Breast cancer is

the leading cause of cancer deaths among women ages 40 to 59.”

That’s why we race.

That’s why some 1.4-million participants take part in some 100

Race for the Cure events each year.

That’s why the event two weeks ago was slated to raise some $1.5

million and the Race for the Cure has taken in more than $10 million

since its inception 12 years ago.

Early detection and frequent screenings are part of the answer.

Knowledge about treatment and firsthand accounts from survivors can

help beat this disease.

That’s why we race -- to keep those we love alive and healthy.

For more information on the Race for the Cure and cancer detection

and survival, go to https://www.Komen.org.