Race for the Cure coming to Lombard Thanks to one person’s promise to find a cure for breast cancer, nearly $1.5 billion has been raised to fight the disease that will affect one in eight women in the United States during their lifetime, and is the leading cause of death among women worldwide.
When Susan G. Komen was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977, she fought the disease for some three years before succumbing in 1980 at the age of 36. She asked her sister, Nancy G. Brinker, to do what she could to see that a cure was found for other breast cancer patients, and in July 1982, Brinker formed the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Dallas, Texas.
The organization started with $200 and a shoebox containing the names of friends who could be counted on to help.
Brinker went on to organize the first fundraiser, also in 1982, which resulted in a $30,000 grant for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, according to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
The first Race for the Cure fundraiser was held in 1983, with 800 participants, and Brinker herself was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984. The first fundraiser race to be held outside of the organization’s state was in 1986, in Peoria, Ill., where Komen was born.
Other milestones include the first co-ed race being held in Wichita, Kan., in 1990; the same year when a breast cancer survivors program was launched at a national Race for the Cure held in Washington, D.C.
In 1991 pink ribbons began making their appearance to emphasize the importance of breast cancer research, and during that same year, the foundation raised $1 million for research and project grants.
By 1995, 57 cities around the country were hosting Race for the Cure events, with some 27 affiliates (chapters) throughout the United States.
In 1998, the first fundraising race was held outside of the United States—in Costa Rica—and the race has now become the largest registered 5K race in the world. As the organization expanded, adding new affiliates in other countries and a new Breast Health Advisory Council, more than a million people participated in the 2000 Race for the Cure series, according to foundation figures.
In 2008, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation celebrated having awarded $100 million in research grants.
While the annual races continue, this year the first suburban Race for the Cure in Illinois will be held in Lombard through the Susan G. Komen Chicagoland Affiliate, on Sunday, Sept. 26, starting at Yorktown Center mall, according to Lt. Scott Watkins, who was approached to help provide traffic control for the event. Watkins explained that he was contacted by Lindsey Burke, of Yorktown’s media relations office, to ask about enlisting the police department’s help for a possible race event to be launched from the mall.
“They wanted to do a suburban event in addition to the city event,” Watkins related. “The Komen [foundation] put the word out that they were looking for a suburban event,” he continued, adding that various municipalities would be competing for the right to hold the race, “similar to what Chicago was doing for the Olympics.”
Burke picked up the story, saying that the foundation contacted her last October, and she put together a proposal for hosting the event that enlisted the support of area hotels, restaurants and mall stores.
“We called various partners and put a list together of Yorktown [businesses]” that would include retailers and restaurants, she added.
She called Yorktown a “great host site [with] great partners.”
The Komen foundation apparently liked the proposal, because “Yorktown was chosen to be the host site,” Burke said proudly, adding, “We were so thrilled. Everyone in my office was jumping for joy.”
She described the enthusiasm as one of “hometown excitement.” According to Alexandra Sabbag of Dig Communications, Yorktown was chosen, too, because “the area currently ranks as the highest breast cancer incidence rate among all other service areas.”
While the list of sponsors is long, it includes some radio stations and health care organizations; and companies such as UPS, Kraft Foods, 7-Eleven Inc., and, of course Yorktown mall and a number of its businesses.
As for the village’s part in the event, Burke called on Watkins to ask, “What could we expect from the police department?” if Yorktown happened to be chosen, the lieutenant recalled, adding that at the time, “Keep in mind, the economy wasn’t what it is right now.”
With what he called “limited resources,” Watkins said he “reached out to surrounding municipalities” to assist with traffic control. He also got support from Citizens Police Academy (CPA) alumni and Komen volunteers, who will cover traffic control at “non-critical intersections.”
Watkins described that there will be two basic routes of the race— which include a 10K/5K run/walk, and a 1-mile walk.
The lieutenant explained that one race will launch from Yorktown Center, and travel north to Montini Catholic High School. It will “weave its way around that area” and head south toward 22nd Street and Westmore-Meyers Road, near Fountain Square, then veer west on Butterfield Road back to Yorktown.
The other route, he added, will be an “out and in” circuit, heading north to Montini and back to the mall without heading to Butterfield Road.
Watkins said the process of organizing the route involved getting permits from the village and enlisting support from residents along the race route. In addition to traffic control, cones and barricades will be placed where appropriate. Watkins noted that while 2,000 participants are expected, he was told that as many as 2,500 participants could potentially sign up, because some 20 percent sign up on race day.
Sabbag indicated that between the Yorktown Race for the Cure and another to be held in Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 25, in Grant Park, over 10,000 survivors and activists are expected to participate in the fundraiser.
The race starts at 8:15 a.m for runners and 8:30 a.m. for walkers, and according to Sabbag, Dutchie Caray will be the honorary race chair at the Lombard site.
Registration and other information is available at www.komenchicago.org. Advance registration costs $40 for the 10K/5K timed adult runs, $35 for the untimed adult 5K walk and $20 for the 17 and under 5K/1-mile walk.
The fees increase by $5 on race day for each of the events, and volunteers are free. Burke said participants will receive goody bags that will include a card that can be used for discounts at Yorktown-area businesses.
In a press release, Executive Director Michael Ziener of the Chicagoland Area Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure stated, “We’re very excited to be at Yorktown Center in Lombard this year; it is a perfect venue for the Race for the Cure.”
Local man runner up in state spelling bee Bob Willford spent some 20 rounds competing with 12 other contestants until one letter decided the outcome, but for the retired computer training manager, the experience was still “a lot of fun.”
The Lombard resident was competing in a senior spelling bee at the Illinois State Fair on Senior Citizens Day, Monday, Aug. 16, which was sponsored in part by the Illinois Department on Aging (IDOA). The event was one of a number of events, programs, health screenings and seminars for seniors 60 and older provided by the IDoA, according to an IDoA press release, which states that admission to the fair that day was free for seniors. The senior spelling bee was brought back to the fair in 2008 after not being held for many years, a state fair press release notes.
Willford made it to the state finals after first competing at the local level during a senior spelling bee sponsored by state Sen. Dan Cronin, held in May at Lexington Square of Elmhurst.
He was one of 11 participants, and as a result of his win, moved to the area semifinals held at the Addison Park District in July.
Willford related that the semifinals included 29 contestants who had placed first or second in their respective local spelling bees, and he placed as a runner up to the first-place winner, which entitled him to compete at the state level.
While he doesn’t recall the word that he misspelled during that competition, Willford recounted how “he and I went back and forth [about 10 times] spelling each others’ words.”
Regardless, he earned a slot at the state competition, where he said the bee lasted about two hours, before he inserted the letter “k” between the “c” and “s” in the word “frolicsome.”
Willford still earned the honor of being named runner up, and said he “met some very nice people” while also enjoying the state fair that day.
When asked if he had participated in spelling bees before, Willford responded with a chuckle that he was in a spelling bee during seventh grade while living in St. Louis, Mo., which was broadcast on the radio.
He said that he also participated in a senior spelling bee two years ago, sponsored by Rep. Sandy Pihos, and made it as far as the area semifinals. Willford said he studied “about an hour” for the state spelling bee, going on a Miriam Webster Web site, but also credits helping his wife Nancy with her crossword puzzles for developing an exposure to various words.
Willford said he also receives a daily e-mail that includes a “word of the day.” Being that he worked with computers, a question about what he thinks of the spell-checking function prompted him to respond that it “gives you a false sense of security.”
Willford said, too, that when he worked as a computer training manager, he wrote documentation, which helped his spelling skills, and the job also put him in front of people.
The latter, he said, made it somewhat easier to stand before a crowd during the spelling bee competitions because he was “used to getting up in front of people.” Willford also quipped that he is “a bit of a ham,” and added that the key to getting up in front of people, whether it be conducting training or competing in a spelling be, is “not taking yourself too seriously.”
