The Medical Apprentice

Yesterday I had the chance to participate in the Komen Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure.  The program promotes breast cancer awareness and raises money for expanded access to screening and research.  Most importantly, it is a chance for our community to come together and recognize those affected by breast cancer.  I imagine that almost all of us have family or friends who have faced this disease.  My friends and I were part of Team Barb, walking in memory of our friend Megan’s mother who died of breast cancer this past spring.       

In the past I’ve been active in Relay for Life, but this was my first Race for the Cure.  I was amazed by how many people participated!  Over 18,000 ran or walked the 5K course downtown.  Toledo’s is actually one of the largest Race for the Cure events in the country!

It was really cool to see so many people unite with a common goal, and there was a lot of positive energy.  Along the route they had live music and plenty of folks cheering you on.  I’ll have to admit there was one moment that cast a bit of a shadow on the day.  Towards the end we were walking behind a group of people who were smoking cigarettes (my friend Jon nicknamed them the menthols for mammograms team!).  It was odd to see folks actively increasing their risk of getting cancer at a cancer awareness event!  But luckily they didn’t put a damper on our day.  Though we had only walked it, we took a chance at the end to get an exaggerated exhaustion picture. 

It seemed like everyone had a great time.  In the sea of thousands I’m sure there were many from the UT community that participated.  Share your story!  How did the event go for you?  Who were you honoring as you ran or walked?