More than 20,000 survivors, co-survivors, family members and friends affected by breast cancer ran in the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Austin Sunday morning.
The race is an opportunity to not only raise money, but awareness. For many, it's also an opportunity to celebrate survivorship and remember those lost to the disease.
"One in eight women are affected throughout their lives, so unfortunately there are many people who are touched by this disease. The good thing is that there are more and more people surviving the disease," Ramona Magid, executive director of Komen Austin, said.
Nearly 1,000 women in Austin's five-county region will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
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Race for the Cure
As News 8's Chie Saito shows us, for some the event was more than a race, it was a memorial.
 
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This year's race raised nearly $2 million.
Among the crowd of participants were people like Julia Wood who has a very personal reason for taking these steps.
"My mom died of breast cancer three years ago, and so my brothers and I were looking for a way to honor her," Wood said.
Wood was part of a team of 40 people named "In Mammary of Mom", made up of children who have lost their mothers to breast cancer.
Magid said all that money adds up.
"We've raised over $1.7 million dollars today, as of today, and 75 percent of the money stays in Bastrop, Hays, Travis, Caldwell and Williamson counties to help uninsured and under-insured women," she said.
But for Wood, the event is not just a way to raise money.
"When you go through this you kind of feel like you're alone. But to be out here to see all the pink and all the people who are working for the same thing, it's just really nice because you feel like you're a bigger part of something," Wood said.
For more information, visit KomenAustin.org.
