Running for Remembrance

Sept. 29, 2004

Most of the women who will enter the 10th Annual Women’s Remembrance Run on Saturday, Oct. 2 will be there for deeply personal reasons -- to honor a beloved family member or friend who died of cancer.
All along the 5-kilometer route in Traverse City are hundreds of small signs bearing the names of women who’ve succumbed to breast cancer. The runners themselves often wear tee-shirts or badges with the names of loved-ones who’ve died of breast cancer, uterine cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma and other cruel forms of the disease.
“The signs have had such an impact on people as they go around the course,” says event director Michelle Witkop. “The signs are what developed this event into a remembrance run of people afflicted with breast cancer. Every name on the course is like a marker and they’ve just had such a strong impact on people. They run past a sign and say, ‘I remember her,’ and it’s really something when you consider that there are hundreds of signs.”
The signs with the names of the lost are the creation of volunteer Barb Otto, and they add a sense of poignancy to the 10th anniversary of the Remembrance Run, which has developed into one of the biggest women’s sporting events in Michigan with an average of 300 registrants each year, including some men and many children.
Of note, it’s a sports event which is entirely non-competitive. “The people who participate are not your average great runners because this isn’t really a race,” Witkop says. “It’s not the running community that’s involved so much as it is people interested in doing something about breast cancer.”

A GIFT
In fact, the event is something of a gift from the running community to the general public in that it’s staged by the Traverse City Track Club, and male members of the club traditionally serve as volunteers in a tuxedo coat & tails, lending their expertise in the form of course organization and logistics.
The Remembrance Run was first envisioned about 11 years ago at a Track Club New Year’s Eve party when Witkop and runners Bonnie Alanson and Judy Yeager got to talking about the need for a fundraising event for breast cancer.
“We approached Munson Medical Center about what we could do to help and that’s how the Women’s Cancer Fund got started at the hospital,” Witkop recalls.
Initially, half the funds raised by the event went to the American Cancer Society, but a couple of years ago organizers voted to send all proceeds to the local Women’s Cancer Fund to help afflicted women in the area. “The funds aren’t used for medical means -- they are used to help women with prostheses, transportation, and other things that are not normally covered under medical insurance.”

UPLIFTING
The success of the walk/run in helping to establish the Women’s Cancer Fund has generated spin-offs such as the Women’s Golf Classic and Women’s Helping Hands art show which have become huge community events each year.
One of the best things about the event is the Breast Health Fair which precedes the walk/run. The Fair provides women with information on diagnosis and treatment options, showing how to take charge of one’s own health and well-being.
Considering that one out of every eight women develop breast cancer, the message of the Breast Health Fair is one that everyone needs to hear.
“Breast cancer is an aggressive disease; it can be difficult to detect and sometimes it recurs,” Witkop says. “For some women, the diagnosis isn’t always made early enough. But still, the key to better treatment is always early diagnosis.”
This year, Witkop and other organizers are excited about a quilt made of Remembrance Run tee-shirts from each of the past 10 years by the Interlochen Quilt Guild. The quilt will be raffled with tickets available at $1 each, or six for $5. It’s an artistic testimony to the resolve of local women to remember those they love, and to do something about their loss.

Registration for the Remembrance Run is $20 (or $25 on the day of the event). The 5k run/walk and 1-mile fun run/walk takes place at the Grand Traverse Civic Center on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 10 a.m., with the Breast Health Fair preceding the event. Each participant receives a long-stemmed carnation on completion of the course. Applications are available at Running Fit stores, or check the website at
www.tctrackclub.com. Info: 231-941-8118.

Get checked:
Planned Parenthood Northern Michigan (PPNM) will offer free clinical breast exams (CBE) on Tuesday, October 5 in Traverse City, Mt. Pleasant and Marquette, and on Thursday, October 7 in Petoskey.
An estimated 216,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in American women in 2004. As screening programs have become more common, more cases of breast cancer are being detected in the earlier stages of disease, when they are more easily and successfully treated. Getting tested regularly for breast cancer is the best way for women to lower their risk of dying from the disease.
Planned Parenthood recommends annual mammography beginning at age 40, and annual clinical breast exams and monthly breast self-exams beginning at age 20. Women with a family history of breast cancer or other concerns about their personal risk should consult with a health care provider. Screening tests may need to be done more often and/or started earlier than usual if the woman has certain risk factors.
Clinical breast exams will be performed by female nurse practitioners. The exams involve checking the look and feel of the breasts and underarms for any changes. The breasts are checked while a woman is sitting up and lying down.
To schedule a free CBE, contact the PPNM health center nearest you.
• Mt. Pleasant: 989-773-5602
• Traverse City: 231-929-1844
• Petoskey: 231-347-9692