Like most events this year, the CIBC Run for the Cure has been reimagined to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the event will have both physical and virtual components.
“Now more than ever, the CIBC Run for the Cure needs your support to ensure that no Canadian has to face breast cancer alone,” said Luisa Martone, co-run director of the Sault Ste. Marie Run for the Cure. “Cancer doesn’t stop being a life-changing and life-threatening disease in the middle of a pandemic and that’s why we will never stop running to support people affected by breast cancer.”
The Canadian Cancer Society CIBC Run for the Cure is a 1 km or 5 km walk and is the largest, single-day, volunteer-led fundraiser dedicated to fighting breast cancer. Last year, it brought together over 85,000 participants and raised $17 million in 57 communities across Canada. Since the event began in 1992, the CIBC Run for the Cure has raised more than $462 million for breast cancer research and support.
This year’s Run for the Cure will be held on Sunday, Oct. 4. Participants can sign up as an individual or as a team, and use the CIBC Run for the Cure mobile app to create and customize their own virtual runner, fundraise and track their activity. On Run Day, participants can join the online opening ceremonies before heading out to walk or run in their neighborhood.
The opening ceremonies will be livestreamed on Canadian Cancer Society’s Facebook and YouTube channels at 11:30 a.m. and will be hosted by award-winning singer-songwriter Jully Black, dubbed Canada’s Queen of R&B Soul. Black has partnered with the Run to cheer on participants and supporters, and to empower all Canadians affected by breast cancer. Viewers can also expect a high-energy warm-up and powerful performances from Barenaked Ladies, Jess Moskaluke and Carolyn Dawn Johnson.
One of this year’s participants, Laurie Alfano, has been taking part in the Run for the Cure every year for almost a decade.
Her team, Triple Positive, is made up of family and friends and will be walking on Oct. 4 to support the cause.
“I participated even before I was diagnosed myself,” Alfano said. “Many people in my life have been affected by breast cancer. I think this year’s event will be very different from how it’s been done in the past but I think it will be exciting to be with a group of family and friends. We’re just going to make the best of it and wear our pink and walk together. This event means hope for a better future where breast cancer is not as common as it is today. So many people are affected by this disease and we need to have hope that through raising funds and finding new treatments and hopefully cures, this will mean that people in the future will not have to worry about breast cancer.”
