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Patty Iddings wore the pink color, emblematic color of breast cancer, on Sunday.
But Iddings wanted to stand out in the crowd during the Susan G. Komen hunt for healing. So she completed her look with a pink cap covered with a pink feather boa.
Iddings has been a breast cancer survivor for "nine years, two months and up."
The Omaha woman said that she thought about breast cancer every day. The day of the race, the fact of rubbing shoulders with other survivors gives him hope.
"I feel just blessed and grateful," she said.
Iddings was one of about 6,000 participants at the 25th edition of the Baxter Arena Run for Healing. The event raises funds for breast cancer research while raising awareness of the disease.
The march also brings survivors together, said Karen Daneu, executive director of Susan G. Komen Great Plains.
Hundreds of survivors posed for a photo inside the arena and then paraded past the main entrance to the starting line. The 3 and 1 mile walks started and ended outside.
Before the race, the floor of the arena was covered with a sea of pink. Participants wore pink shirts, shoes, scarves, tutus and wigs. A man sprinkled pink glitter in his beard.
Darla Zumm asks her friends and family to wear sequined fedoras every year. Pink feathers stand out on the sides of the hats.
Zumm, of La Vista, is a 10-year-old survivor. She was terrified of being diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. To hear that she was cancer free was a relief.
"Every year is such a blessing," said Zumm.
Her first year in the race, she was still in treatment. She could hardly walk the road for a mile. But she found hope in the other participants.
"Watching the women who survived was inspiring," Zumm said. "This is not a death sentence.
Jeralyn Harris and her family posed for photos under a pink and teal balloon bow before the walk. Harris was there to support his mother, Ida Harris, a 24-year-old survivor. The family has participated in Race for the Cure for 11 years.
Being there with his mother "means everything," said Harris.
Brian Willers participated in several photo sessions in the morning with his hat. He wore a helmet with woods growing on the sides. Draped on the woods was a bra with "save a rack" printed. He wears the hat to support his wife, Jann, a 10-year-old survivor.
The organizers hoped to raise more than $ 600,000. Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will go to local programs in Nebraska.
Before the march, Emily Sommer, daughter of Kate Sommer, who brought the race to Nebraska in 1994, organized the first Nebraska healing race after competing in the KC race in Washington. She has also helped to create a local Susan G. Komen office.
Kate Sommer died of breast cancer in 2015.
"I wish my mother can see the progress," her daughter told the crowd. "You witness the story and you tell it at the same time, but we are not finished, as my mother would say, let us get to work."
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