The Gazette, October 2008

For sisters Danielle Rémy and Marie-Josée Marchand, not joining yesterday's CIBC Run for the Cure wasn't an option.

In August, the sisters lost their mother to breast cancer. And each sister has had her own private battle with the disease.

This was a second time on the run for Marchand, 57, who had just recovered from a partial mastectomy followed by chemotherapy in July.

"It's not a good year," Marchand said.

Sporting a pink-ribbon T-shirt, Marchand and Rémy completed the the five kilometres CIBC Run for the Cure, joining an estimated 20,000 people walking or jogging through Montreal's downtown area.

"It's very personal," said Rémy, 52, of Boisbriand, her eyes tearing. "Three years ago, I didn't even know these runs existed. Then I got sick with breast cancer."

Similar events were held in 54 communities across the country. About 170,000 people participated and more than $28.5 million was raised for Breast Cancer Foundation yesterday.

Paying $40 to participate in the run may not seem like a big contribution, but it's a concrete way of showing support, said Karine Voyer-Prévost, Rémy's daughter-in-law.

"It's the least I can do," Voyer-Prévost said, and hugged Rémy.

The event drew to an end in Dorchester Square in a festive mood, with pink balloons and hats and food kiosks. Friends, colleagues, neighbours, survivors and others affected by breast cancer listened to live music as children got on a miniature train circulating in the park.

Organizers were pleased with the turnout. A combined total of 25,000 people joined the run in Montreal and Quebec, said Yannick Brouillette of CIBC Run for the Cure, raising about $2 million for the foundation.

About 75 per cent of the money raised in Quebec will remain in the province to fund local research programs, Brouillette said. The money raised is managed by the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, which allocates the funds for research, support and education. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is the main sponsor for the run.

An estimated 22,400 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 5,300 will die of it this year, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Not enough research is looking at the root causes of breast cancer, said Carol Sector of Breast Cancer Action Montreal in a telephone interview.

"Almost no money is going into primary prevention," she said, commenting on possible cancer triggers in drinking water, detergents, pesticides, plastics and cosmetics.

"About 15 per cent of women with the cancer gene do not get cancer," she said. "So what triggers it?"

Munching on a slice of cheese after the run, Manon Lalonde of Rigaud, a participant in the annual Dragon Boat races and the Montreal Jewish Hospital's 60-kilometre walk for breast cancer, said walks, runs and races are great morale boosters.

"We need to find the problem," Lalonde said.

"More and more women, younger and older women, are now getting breast cancer."