I had the honor to photograph Marathon for the Cure which is part of the Baltimore Marathon for Susan G. Komen.  I’m sure all of you have heard of Race for the Cure, but maybe not Marathon for the Cure.  Marathon for the Cure runners agree to run in the Baltimore Marathon (or whatever marathon is associated with Marathon for the Cure) and also agree to raise a certain amount of money for SGK.  Running for a cause–love it!

I have been involved with SGK for awhile now doing numerous Race for the Cures and the 3-Day for the Cure last year.  Breast cancer and breast health is a cause that hits home for me as my mom fought breast cancer for almost 5 years.  Sadly, she passed away on September 2, 2011.  October 15, 2011 would have been her 59th birthday–it also happened to be the day of the Marathon for the Cure.  I debated going home and being with my family on this day, but ultimately we decided that volunteering for this position was a much better way to honor her memory.  So off I went to photograph Marathon for the Cure runners….and basically anyone else wearing pink as there were alot of other people showing their support for the cause on race day.  Oh, and I randomly ran into what looked to be the beginning of a Baraat of an Indian wedding–very cool.

Along the way, a women named Mimi came up to me and asked what all the pink was about.  I told her about Marathon for the Cure and one of her friends told me that Mimi was a survivor.  We started talking, I told her my story, and then I got pretty emotional as it was the first time I had told anyone at the race the significance of the day.  We hugged and she was so sweet–its amazing how connected you feel to people who have similar struggles as yourself.  I took a picture of her which is below (she is the one in the Mountineers shirt) and I never saw her again that day (stay tuned to a post coming in the near future for a continuation of this story). 

What a great day! I was so very happy to be able to take these photographs in memory of my mom.  I along with millions of others are still fighting for a cure to this silly disease.  Happy Birthday Mom!!