Running, surviving and returning to health
Shawn Miller and Deb Groves finished first in the prostate cancer run and the breast cancer run, respectively, on Saturday. But the real winners will be the cancer patients and their families who benefit from the fund-raising events.
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The 12th Annual "Beat the Odds" All-Women's Race Against Breast Cancer attracted 576 registrants, said race director George Elgee of the organizing Glacier Valley Rotary Club.
The Eighth Annual Prostate Cancer Run/Walk, organized by the Southeast Road Runners Club, had 71 participants. Both events featured 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) runs and 2-mile walks that started and finished at Mendenhall River Community School.
"It's a big fund-raiser," said George Johnson of the Southeast Road Runners. "I think the fact there are so many volunteers coming out, that attracts people even more."
Funds raised by participants' fees, usually about $15,000, help pay for cancer awareness programs in the community and cancer patients' support groups and travel expenses. Corporate sponsors pay for expenses such as runners' T-shirts.
Glacier Valley Rotary member Virginia Smiley said she burst into tears when a surgeon told her last year that she had breast cancer. She's undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
One of the most important things she did was to join a cancer support group. The members had been through the same thing and showed she could be normal again.
The race also demonstrates support.
"That's what I think part of the race is about - the awareness it brings to the community," Smiley said. "It's about togetherness in the community. It's an opportunity to come out in support of breast cancer survivors, to come out in memory of those who haven't survived. It's an opportunity to have laughs with friends - about 600 friends."
Smiley walked this year's race and plans to walk a leg of the Klondike International Road Relay later this week.
Mike Miller, a former Juneau resident and swim coach who lives in Portland, Ore., to be close to his doctors, said he felt hopeless when he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 1996. He was given 17 to 35 months to live.
Miller co-founded the Southeast Alaska Cancer and Wellness Foundation to help empower patients and give them information. Its 24-hour information line can be reached at (907) 796-2273 from Juneau or 1-866-376-2273 from the rest of Southeast. Its Web site is at www.seacwf.org.
Miller beat his first bout with prostate cancer. But he was diagnosed in 2001 with a rare form of prostate cancer and given nine to 25 months to live. He's been free of that cancer for 32 months.
"Literally, I'm a blessed man," he said. "The community of Juneau, not one but twice, rallied around the family."
Mike McKrill used to run the prostate race just because he was a runner. But now he's a survivor of prostate cancer. He was diagnosed in 1998.
"Now I run it because I feel it is a statement to other men that you can recover from prostate cancer and be healthy," he said.
Cancer is more treatable now than in the past, but the best defense is education and early detection, said Ruth Johnson, president of the Southeast Alaska Cancer and Wellness Foundation's board.
Some runners signed up Saturday for free prostate cancer screenings with urologist Michael Singsaas. The foundation passed out guides to self-examinations for breast cancer and testicular cancer. The foundation also publicized the Annual Juneau Women's Health Forum, part of which will deal with breast cancer, scheduled for noon Saturday, Nov. 15, at Centennial Hall.
The runners and walkers Saturday varied in age and shape. Some wore red paper hearts to represent cancer survivors or people who have died from cancer.
Heidi Stears pinned three hearts on her clothes: one for Ann, her husband's grandmother, who died of breast cancer; one for her Aunt Lori, who just completed chemotherapy; and one for her grandmother Jo, who had cancer in her eye.
Some participants were competitive runners, but they were all mindful of the races' purpose.
Jamie Bursell said she's run the breast cancer race for seven years.
"This is one that people like to see their time on," she said. "Just because of the cause. It really pushes you to know what you're running for."
For winners Shawn Miller and Debbie Groves, this year's races represented their personal best times in 5 kilometers. Complete results for the 5K runs are on the Scoreboard on Page B2.
Miller, 23, finished in 15 minutes, 44 seconds. He attributed his speed to a "hard workout on the track" Tuesday, namely 16 800-meter runs. "That speed work really helps with races."
"As (his) Klondike team captain, I would say I'm very proud of him," said Johnson, who will lead one of several Southeast Road Runners' teams at the Klondike International Road Relay. "It brings a lot of credibility to our team."
Groves, 42, was aiming for a time under 20 minutes. She finished in 19:48.
"I was just running real well this summer. I was hoping I could run under 20," she said.
Smiley, who spoke before the breast cancer race, urged the women to hug each other "because a hug is where the circle of healing begins."
Eric Fry can be reached at efry@juneauempire.com.