Suzanne Mace

Sandy Fitzwilliam and her team start the 5K at down town St. Louis.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is a foundation that fundraises to support breast cancer research. For junior class secretary Sandy Fitzwilliam and business teacher Laura Glenn, both breast cancer survivors, the cause is near to both of their hearts. 

Fitzwilliam was diagnosed with breast cancer Nov. 12, 2014.

“There was no lump or anything else I could feel, and my mammogram came back fine,” Fitzwilliam said. “If it wasn’t for my doctor who said something didn’t seem quite right when she did the hands-on exam, it would have been another year before I had another mammogram and it could have spread throughout my body by then.”

Fitzwilliam has participated the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure a total of three times, though two times were before she was diagnosed.

“When you are on the walk and get a couple blocks down the street, all you see in front of you is a sea of people and all you see in back is a sea of people,” Fitzwilliam said. “People dance and wear all sorts of different stuff—t-shirts with sayings, boas, head bands or tutus. Seeing it on TV doesn’t do it justice.”

Glenn was diagnosed in 1997 and has been participating in the Race for the Cure since it started in 1999.

“It’s all positive, and it’s really a fun day, but it’s also very emotional when you see how many people have been affected,” Glenn said. “Not only those with cancer, but [their] families.”

On race day in downtown St. Louis, Fitzwilliam and her companions wore matching shirts and headbands in support for her and others diagnosed.

“You realize that not only your family and friends care about you,” Fitzwilliam said. “People you have never met care and understand how you felt when you went through your surgery.”

The 2017 Komen Greater St. Louis Race for the Cure is June 10. Registration for the event is now open.