A Reflection on the 30th Walk for Life and Famously Hot Pink Half Marathon, 5K + 10K
It’s hard for me to adequately put in to words that feeling of seeing what has long been described as “the sea of pink” on the morning of Walk for Life. Thousands of men and women, along with their children, joining together in unity against breast cancer – it moves me more and more each year.
My first Walk for Life was as a participant in celebration of my mom’s 5-year cancerversary. It was several years later when I joined the team at Prisma Health Midlands Foundation (then Palmetto Health Foundation) and was able to work on the event for the first time.
I still remember when I learned that the first Walk for Life I would be working on we would be working to raise funds for our first 3D digital mammography machine for our breast center. My mom’s breast cancer – stage 3B lobular – would have been detected much sooner had 3D digital mammography been available at that time. With this new, advanced equipment in our community I knew that we were moving in the right direction. And I felt this each year as we came together to raise money for a new machine – eventually raising enough money to purchase a ninth 3D digital mammography machine, effectively making 3D mammography systemwide at Prisma Health.
As the daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I know firsthand the impact that a diagnosis can have on a family. As the mother of two girls, I know how important it is to constantly seek out the best equipment for treatment and prevention of breast cancer. These important details are why we do what we do, and why we look forward to connecting with each of our walkers and runners throughout the year, and especially each day throughout the month of October.
In 2020, we made the decision to turn our walk and run in to a virtual event, one in which the sea of pink would instead become more like ripples across our community as family and friends would gather in small groups but still, together, support our common cause. It created new challenges, but each day, through the connections we made in our participant facebook groups and through the hashtag #Pink4Prisma, we soon realized that we were really all in this together even in this year of change.
It’s fitting to know that those who have been affected by breast cancer are this adaptable. With the help of so many of you – from 31 states and 3 countries to be exact – we were able to accomplish great things once again this year. With more than $326,000 raised for Prisma Health Breast Center, I am overwhelmed with how much support we continue to see for this event and this cause year after year. We are so thankful for each and every participant and feel a sense of connection with each t-shirt we hand out, because we know how much every individual step helps us reach the ultimate distance.
A special thanks goes to this year’s top teams:
Pink Posse Philes
Wildewood/Woodcreek Warriors
Pine Grove Community Pacesetters
Drive on for Jill
St. John Neumann School
AllSouth Crusaders for the Cure
Lizard’s Thicket
Friends4Dawn
Amy and Rhonda’s Army
YO LADY!!!!
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