Almost all of us can think of someone effected by breast cancer. And more than 9-thousand runners and walkers are expected to gather for the annual Race for the Cure.
Channel 8's Kim Jackson says it's more than just a run. It's an opportunity to educate.
T-shirts come with the registration. That's one perk. But there is also a tip to women over 40, get a mammogram regularly.
Janice Gulley is a volunteer but she's also a survivor--after breast cancer, lumpectomies and radiation.
"This side is an A and this side is a B. It looks real weird but you laugh about it. Well I have to," she said.
Janice was a volunteer for Susan G. Komen, because her sister had breast cancer and so did her sister in law. She herself had endured 40-years of complicated mammograms.
"So it had been like 15 months since I had a mammogram and I did. I had a doctor tell me, now Janice, you know you got trouble and you've got to go, don't forget. I said ok,".
Like a lot of women she had waited too long.
The goal is that Race for the Cure be a reminder--after a study showed that too many women over 40-avoid mammograms even though they have access to them.
"If we're not getting mammogram, we run the risk of getting diagnosis later and when you have a later diagnosis, you have a rougher journey, and a chance of not surviving the disease," said Christy Southard, of the Tulsa Komen chapter.
Rebecca Carroll signed up for the run, just to be part of a cure. She doesn't know any survivors.
"It's scary to think about. It could happen to anybody. It's kind of scary to not know anybody that has been effected because like, the tables are gonna probably turn sooner or later," she said.
Rebecca as a lot to live for and so does Janice who encourages women to wear pink as a reminder to get checked.
"I'm cancer free from my eyes to my thigh," she smile.
If you would like to register, you may on Saturday morning before the race at 6 a.m. at the OneOk stadium.
