Race for the Cure Portland 2010

Sunday, September 19th, Adam, Carus, and I met up with Gramma Barbara to walk in Portland's Race for the cure. We had joined my Providence Diagnostic Imaging team. Providence Cancer Center got every team member a bright pink wig. While Adam was a great sport and did put on the wig for me to get a picture at home, and did put it on for a moment there at the event site, his embarrassment over being a boy with a pink wig won out and he took it off.  I had teased him that I was going to make him wear it, but in the end I let him be.  There were other male team members wearing the pink wigs, but it has to take a lot of confidence for a boy to pull that off and at Adam's age I am glad he doesn't have it.  He will, just not yet.

After their games on Saturday, and getting up at 6 a.m. to go to the race, the kids were pretty tired and weren't too enthused about walking 5K with me. But they toughed it out and made it with very minimal complaints.

They changed the route this year and because of it there was an overlapping-type point.  We walked one direction down the street a-ways and then went around a caution cone and walked back the other way.

All along the caution tape kids were playing with it and hanging on it and someone ended up putting their hand out for a high five.

And it spread.

Most of the kids and a few of the adults were holding out their hands and everyone would high five them as they walked by.  Adam and Carus LOVED this - as did most of the other kids.  And so many adults were enjoying having all these kids to high five.

Encouragement to keep going. Keep walking.  Encouragement to keep "fighting".

Northwest Oregon is pretty famous for the amount of rain we get and this year has been pretty wet; so of course it was forecasted to rain Sunday.

The forecast had actually said it was going to rain pretty much all day.  But most of the walk was dry. 

The event's grounds (Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland) were all muddy from all the rain we've been getting, but the sun was out with the few gray clouds and we weren't too worried. 

I still brought the umbrellas because I didn't want my camera getting wet.  And good thing too, because in the last stretch of the walk, probably no more than 1/2 mile from the finish line, it downpoured. It only lasted a few minutes, or perhaps yards and we just walked out of the rain, but we did have the umbrellas up for a bit. 

The rest of the day - ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! High 70s and sunny!

There is always something that makes me tear up at this event. 

Actually, it is a lot of somethings.

All the pink shirts (which are survivors and current fighters).

This pink shirt in particular started me off.

Look at all those names for just one person.  Including her.

In celebration of Me!

This was another one. 

If you can't read that little boy's card it says:

"I race in celebration of MY MOM"

And he was walking hand and hand with his mom. 

I am so glad she was there to hold your hand little guy, I hope she will be for a long time yet.

 

After we crossed the finish line we headed for the Max Station for the long crowded ride back to Beaverton where we had parked our cars and then we went for our annual post race breakfast/brunch/lunch. 

I didn't see the goofy face Adam is making trying to get a drink of his rootbeer until after I sat back down and was too tired to worry about it. 

I hope we get to help in the very teeny tiny way we do for a long time yet.

Or until they find a cure. Which ever comes first.

PS: You can still donate and help save some tatas!

My page

Adam's page

Carus's page