Friday, April 10, 2009
Jayhawks for a Cure 5K Race: Follow the Route
View Jayhawks for A Cure 5K Race in a larger map
— Map by Brenna Daldorph
Ally Stanton and Kolby Fesmire have two things in common: Both play on the KU softball team and both watched their mothers battle breast cancer.
Stanton, St. Louis junior, and Fesmire, Round Rock, Texas, sophomore, will participate in Saturday’s Jayhawks for a Cure 5K and the Pink Diamond Challenge. The Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center will sponsor the events for the third year. This is the Athletics Department’s first year cosponsoring the events.
KU softball team members Ally Stanton, St. Louis junior outfielder, and Kolby Fesmire, Round Rock, Texas sophomore shortstop, have both been personally affected by breast cancer—both Stanton and Fesmire's mothers are survivors of the disease. Saturday, Stanton's mother will throw the first pitch at The Pink Diamond Challenge.
Stanton said she and her mother were both involved in Susan G. Komen for the Cure before her mother’s diagnosis.
“It really helped because when she was diagnosed she already had a support group around her,” Stanton said.
Stanton said her mother has been in remission from the cancer for several years now. She said her mother’s struggle has been an inspiration to her on and off the field.
“If she can handle everything she’s gone through then I can handle anything they throw at me out here,” Stanton said.
Stanton’s mother, Connie, will throw the first pitch at the softball game against Oklahoma at 1 p.m. Saturday at Arrocha Ballpark. Both teams will wear pink-and-white jerseys in support of the day’s events. Connie Stanton said she was excited about participating in the events. After undergoing a mastectomy, she was diagnosed with melanoma, which she fought for several months.
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The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center at the University of Kansas is teaming up with KU Athletics to raise money for breast cancer research and patient care. On April 11, the University will host the Jayhawks for a Cure 5K and the Pink Diamond Challenge for this initiative.
“As of last week, I finished my treatment and I’m a new person,” Connie Stanton said. “I feel great.”
She said she had been involved in breast cancer awareness for more than ten years and that she hoped others would take up the cause because the disease affected so many people.
“I can handle it,” Connie Stanton said. “I don’t worry as much for myself as I do for my daughter and generations to follow.”
Fesmire said she was a sophomore in high school when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her mother entered remission in 2005. Fesmire said her mother’s battle with cancer was especially difficult because she was diagnosed shortly after Fesmire’s grandfather died. Fesmire said she was motivated to become involved with breast cancer awareness after witnessing her mother’s struggle.
“It affected my family, so it’s just that much more important to me,” Fesmire said.
All proceeds raised at the two events will go toward Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s Breast Center and the KU Cancer Center.
Stefani Gerson, coordinator of student programs for the KU Alumni Association, said she helped start the event three years ago when she was a graduate student working in the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
“Basically, there was already a breast cancer awareness week, but I wanted it to be bigger and grander because this is very important to me.”
Gerson said a member of her immediate family was diagnosed with breast cancer, which inspired her to take up the cause.
“Ever since I was a freshman in college, it’s been a huge passion of mine,” she said.
The 5K race will take runners all across campus, beginning and ending at the Burge Union. The first 275 registered runners will receive free T-shirts, and local businesses have donated prizes for drawings. Participants can pre-register on the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center’s Web site or the Athletics Department’s Web site. In addition to the race, a one-mile non-competitive walk will take place on campus.
— — Edited by Liz Schubauer
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