In the pink

Komen runners turn out in force to fight breast cancer

By: Jessica Pallay
   The message was written clearly in pink: Women and men of the Princeton area must beware of the dangers of breast cancer.
   The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation rallied an estimated 17,000 people to the Bristol-Myers Squibb grounds in Lawrence Township this weekend for its eighth annual New Jersey Race for the Cure.
   The brisk weather failed to deter an adamant group of breast cancer survivors, as well as their friends, families, sponsors and volunteers, including special guests Val Skinner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and actress Catherine Hickland from ABC-TV’s "One Life to Live."
   "This is very inspirational. I don’t feel at all like I’m fighting this disease alone," said survivor Jane Rodney, co-chairwoman of this year’s race and co-director of the Princeton YWCA Breast Cancer Resource Center, which hosted the race.
   The day included a range of activities for participants, varying in intensity from the competitive Men and Women’s 5K (3.1 miles) Runs to the leisurely 5K and 1-Mile Co-Ed Walks.
   Debbie Frederick, an oncology nurse in New York City, took the First Place Survivor title in the Women’s 5K Run, complete with the gift of a Coach watch, among other prizes.
   "You run alone," she said of the various races she has participated in to raise money and awareness for her disease. "But you win together."
   Ms. Frederick is part of a mass of startling statistics pertaining to breast cancer. According to the Komen Foundation, one out of every eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer during her life. More than 40,000 women and 400 men will die from the disease this year.
   Wearing bright pink shirts, caps and bibs provided by race sponsors, Ms. Frederick and about 900 other survivors of every gender, age and nationality stood out among the sea of bobbing heads in each race.
   One pink shirt belonged to Yoko Pepera, a 51-year-old Tulsa, Okla. resident who was diagnosed 24 years ago. The New Jersey Race is her 30th of the 50 she plans to run.
   "My mother passed away from breast cancer when she was 49," Ms. Pepera said. "I celebrated my 50th birthday last year. I will run in 50 states to tell women that early prevention saves lives."
   Friends and relatives sported pink as well, many wearing posters on their backs honoring a person touched by the disease.
   The pink tag on Marisa Angiuli’s back read, "In celebration of Mom."
   The young woman traveled from her home in Hoboken to join 10,000 people in the 5K Walk, including her mother, Hillsborough resident and survivor Maria Angiuli.
   "It’s really special to have my daughter with me, supporting me," Mrs. Angiuli said. "She said she’s walking for me, but really, she’s walking for everyone, for all women."
   Although she lost her sister to breast cancer, Mrs. Angiuli explained that she lived a healthy lifestyle and never suspected she was at risk. Yet she found herself fighting for her life at age 49.
   Two and a half years later and cancer-free, Mrs. Angiuli said that she now realizes that there are no guarantees in life.
   "You never know. You can’t say it’s not going to happen," she said. "Maybe I had to have the disease in order to learn that."
   Her daughter said that while supporting Mrs. Angiuli on the Walk, she noticed a large number of young survivors.
   "At 22, I don’t really think about breast cancer as something that can happen to me, even with the risk already running in my family," she said. "Seeing so many young women in pink shirts makes you rethink that."
   Runner Mark Goldstein, a male breast cancer survivor from Randolph, believes that breast cancer awareness is neglected in men, as well as young women.
   "The disease is not for women only," he explained. "Men should not die from breast cancer out of ignorance."
   Mr. Goldstein admitted that he did not realize men could even be diagnosed with breast cancer until he learned of his own case. Now in his late-60s, Mr. Goldstein has been cancer-free for more than 13 years.
   Despite its rarity, he said, symptoms, treatment and recovery in women and men are very similar, both physically and emotionally. Like women, men also feel a comparable loss of sexual identity.
   While he originally grappled with this emotion, he eventually decided to use his diagnosis as an opportunity to promote awareness among men.
   After the Komen Race for a Cure "woman only" policy was amended in 1992, Mr. Goldstein became a regular addition to the nationwide tour. This race was his 107th run.
   "It was exhilarating," he said. "When you meet these women, you realize that they are surviving — not just getting along — they’re conquerors."
   Adding to his excitement was the companionship of his 3½-year-old granddaughter, who crossed the finish line in Mr. Goldstein’s arms.
   "That’s why we’re doing this, so that when the children grow up and they might have been a candidate for breast cancer, it will have been defeated," he explained.
   In addition to the individual participants, half of the runners were part of teams sponsored by corporations, hospitals and other community groups.
   Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb had the largest corporate turnouts with a combined participation of more than 2,500 employees.
   The goals of the race included raising $1.3 million for local and national research and treatment programs.
   Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand looks forward to the day when breast cancer awareness is no longer necessary.
   "The finish line of the race will be when the cure is found," she said.