Rememberence Run

Oct. 2, 2007

When Robine Wright ran the Remembrance Run back in October of 2001, she had to watch other runners zoom by. As a fairly competitive runner, it was something she wasn’t used to. But for this race, she agreed to run with her daughter, Cassie, who was more of a race walker. They both donned shirts with the name of Robine’s aunt, a cancer survivor. Ironically, she and Cassie talked of everything but breast cancer, which was the event’s whole purpose.
After the race, Wright was chatting with friends until Cassie and her younger sister, Chelsea, called her over to a model of a life-sized breast with rubbery feeling skin. The breast was meant to show what a tumor would feel like if you did a breast exam—a bit like a small marble.
“That run was a test of patience, oh man! But I look at the payback. I took the time to feel these breast models and a week later, I thought, ‘I’m finally going to do this; I’m going to give myself a self exam,’ and then I felt the same kind of thing in my left breast.”
Wright immediately made an appointment and was eventually diagnosed with breast cancer. “Even though I could feel the lump, it still wasn’t detected in the mammogram. I had to have an ultrasound, and that’s where they found it.”
She had three tumors, including the one she could feel. Although she caught it fairly early, the cancer had gone into her lymph node and she had to get a mastectomy. Robine aggressively researched reconstructive surgery, and decided to take advantage of her new reality. “I’m bigger and better!” she said, laughing.
Robine won’t be able to take part in the Remembrance Run this year. Her family has moved to Birmingham, Alabama. But she’s encouraging her Traverse City friends to take part.
The 5K Remembrance Run not only raises money to help breast cancer patients, it also motivates women to protect their health with lots of information and demos about the disease.
Robine considers her own path toward healing as “part of her life’s journey.” It wasn’t an easy path, especially at first. She immediately lost her running partner of many years, who abruptly stopped talking to her. Wright later found the reason: her running partner had lost her own father to cancer and had unresolved issues.
“After I went through treatment, my (running partner’s) dearest aunt came down with breast cancer and healed that all up. Everything squared up. But I think cancer does that. It can separate people. Some people consider you as already dead. But it’s not like that anymore. It’s a sisterhood,” said Robine, adding that other friends stepped up to walk with her when she couldn’t run.
“I just want to tell people that getting breast cancer is absolutely not guaranteed to be the end of your life. I’ll be six years out and I’m in remission, and I’ve seen girls go and leave us. I’ve seen them die, I’ll be honest. But getting cancer is one of life’s journeys. It definitely makes you realize what’s truly important and minimizes all the other stuff.”
Wright will run the Race for the Cure race in Birmingham on October 13, which she has run twice already. After the race, she plans to suggest to race organizers that they include a breast model just like the one that helped saved her own life six years ago.

Women’s Remembrance Run

Saturday, October 6
Timber Ridge Campground
at Hammond & Six Mile Road

Registration: 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

5-K Run/Walk/1-Mile Fun Run: 10 a.m.
Breast Health Fair: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Random prize-give away: 11:15 a.m.

To maintain a noncompetitive atmosphere, there will not be awards for age groups.

The run includes a Breast Health Fair with exhibits and health care professionals, who will answer your questions. Door prizes will be given away starting at 8:15 AM, so arrive early. All proceeds after expenses are donated to the Women’s Cancer Fund, which provides financial assistance for supportive care to women in the community when other means have been exhausted.

Organizers ask that you consider gathering pledges for the run. Pledge sheets are available on the website, www.tctrackclub.com/rrun/. A Glenn Wolff print t-shirt is included in the registration fee and is only guaranteed to the first 250 pre-registered runners.

Cost to race is $20. To register, go to www.tctrackclub.com/rrun/ (you can register online through October 4). Additional registration forms will be available at Bill Marsh Dealerships and Running Fit stores.