Registration opens for the Especially for You® Race Against Breast Cancer as event prepares to celebrate its silver anniversary
Registration for the 25th annual Especially for You® (EFY) Race Against Breast Cancer begins today. Race day is Sunday, October 4, when the event will celebrate 25 years of providing financial assistance for breast care services to individuals in need. Co-founders of the race are Mercy Medical Center and General Mills.
Teams can register for the race online at www.especiallyforyourace.org through Wednesday, Sept. 9. Individuals can register online through Tuesday, Sept. 29, and in person up until 7:30 a.m. on race day. Early registration is encouraged.
In addition to offering race registration options, the EFY website contains additional race information, breast cancer resources and offers the opportunity to share personal stories electronically.
Those who register for the race receive a 25th anniversary EFY T-shirt and a General Mills goodie bag. This year’s T-shirt color is hot pink.
Race Offers New Course Routes
The EFY Race offers a 5K run, 5K walk or a family fun walk covering new course routes this year. The race starts at 8 a.m. just outside the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center on the Mercy Medical Center campus at 701 10th St. SE, finishing in the historic NewBo district on Cedar Rapids’ southeast side.
How You Help
Race organizers expect approximately 16,000 registrations this year. Last year, 14,471 people took part to support the EFY fund, which is used locally and provides financial assistance for breast care services such as mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) and other support services for individuals in need. From 2008 to 2014, EFY has helped 2,956 people in need, right here in our community, with access to 5,546 services.
The race and the fund are dedicated to the memory of Sandy Knight, a Whittier resident and General Mills employee who died of breast cancer in July 1991. She helped organize Mercy’s Especially For You After Breast Cancer Support Group. Her dream was to establish a race to raise funds for breast cancer awareness and education.
For more information, visit www.especiallyforyourace.org or call the EFY race line at (319) 398-6582. In addition to the online registration option, race registration forms and information can be downloaded from the website or may be picked up at Mercy’s Especially for You office at the main hospital campus.
Breast cancer is most treatable and curable when detected in its earliest stages. Even so, breast cancer claims nearly 40,000 lives each year. This number can be reduced with early detection through clinical breast exams and mammography.
