Two years ago, Megan Webster ran in her first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure -- three days after her second chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.
"My husband and I ran together, and I remember we kept seeing so many people who looked so sick," she said. "But that was partly out of our fear, because this time we were saying, 'Look at all these healthy people!' I've felt stronger each time."
Webster, 54, of Richfield, calls herself a two-year, two-month survivor. "You gotta count every month," she said.
She came in first among cancer survivors with a time of 21:18 for the 5K run on a brisk Sunday morning at the Mall of America in Bloomington.
Webster was among thousands of walker and runners participating in the 17th annual event to raise money for breast cancer research and to help uninsured and underinsured women in Minnesota as they fight breast cancer.
The Komen Race for the Cure has grown from one local race in Dallas with 800 participants in 1983 to more than 100 races worldwide, with more than 1.5 million expected to participate this year. Organizers were expecting 50,000 for the Minnesota event.
Webster, who had no family history of cancer, found a small lump four months after a normal mammogram, "so those self-exams are really important." She doesn't call herself a serious runner, but she tries to do aerobic activity each day, and also enjoys riding her bike and lifting weights.
After Sunday's race, she went home to work in her garden -- "my next event"-- then was going to bring flowers to her mother for Mother's Day. To see more of the Star Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.startribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, Star Tribune, Minneapolis Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, Star Tribune, Minneapolis