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SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands participated in the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Saturday, zig-zagging their way through the downtown Salt Lake.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, affecting one in 8 women. It represents 23 percent of cancer diagnoses, and in the U.S., 40,000 people die every year from breast cancer. The financial contributions of the more than 12,000 people who participated in Salt Lake's Race for the Cure will go toward research of the disease.
"Seventy-five percent of our net proceeds stays here in Utah, 25 percent of it is sent to our national affiliate, and that 25 percent goes toward research grants," said Race for the Cure chair Jim Monty.
Teams and individuals raced on behalf of and included survivors or those fighting breast cancer.
"I don't want my little boy to say, 'mom, do you have cancer again?' I don't want to have to answer that question," said cancer survivor Jen Charlesworth.
Dappled throughout the pink outfits and costumes were gray shirts, raising awareness of breast cancer among men.
"That's one thing that people don't realize is that, while this is primarily a women's disease, men can get it," Monty said. "It's a hundred times less frequent, but it can happen, so men do have to be aware."
The 5K race was just the beginning of a longer journey for many of the participants, but it helped them find support to tackle whatever lies ahead.
