I was thrilled after the Marathon for the Cure when the Maryland chapter of Susan G. Komen asked me to photograph the Race for the Cure on October 23rd.  I really can not put into words how special this day was to me.  I found myself being completely overwhelmed by the thousands of people who came out to show their support for the cause and help raise over $2.7 million.  Of course I was teary eyed the entire time.  We all know the stats for breast cancer and that 1 out of 8 women will be diagnosed in their lifetime, but seeing these women and the people around them that it effects was absolutely incredible.  As I was going through these pictures, I really had a hard time deciding which ones to show you as I loved them all so much!!

The number of teams that raised money and the signs they made were unbelievable.  The announcers tried to give a shout out to each team’s name as they walked by the start line but there were soooo many that I’m not sure if all of them were accounted for.

As this team was walking by, they seemed never ending.  Team Legs for Meg was by far the biggest team out there.  As they started to walk by, I jumped down from the starting box and chased after them.  I finally herded them all together because I couldn’t bear not to get a picture of this amazing team.

One thing that absolutely broke my heart were the amount of kids out on this cold morning Should this little boy below really have to carry around a sign with his mom’s picture on it?  I hate this so much for him.

So you might remember from my Marathon for the Cure post that I met a wonderful woman named Mimi.  After everyone started the race, I wondered over to the survivors’ tent.  Even though this wasn’t an area that I was assigned to photograph, I decided to go in anyway to check it out.  Almost immediately when I entered,  Mimi spotted me and came over to talk to me.  I was so excited to see her! She was excited too as she had just finished telling her entire team about my Mom and I and about meeting me at Marathon for the Cure.  I started crying….again….for about the fifth time that day.  You can tell in the picture below.  Mimi introduced me to all of her team and the wonderful people she had supporting her.  What a special, special women and I am so honored to have met her.  Who knows where or when our paths will cross again!

As survivors were crossing the starting line, the announcer would ask them how long they were a survivor and women started holding up their fingers for the number of years.  I couldn’t help but start snapping away and decided to make a series out of it.  The amazing women below are not even the smallest percentage of the number of women this disease effects, but hopefully putting a face to these staggering numbers creates a big impact.  Young or old, rich or poor, black or white, this disease does not care who you are.  It will attack and is a horrific thing to watch a loved one go through.  The good news is because of races like this, money is being raised to help women get detected earlier and to find better and better treatments for the disease.  If you would like to donate you can do so here.  We WILL find a cure to breast cancer!!

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