Registration now open for the Especially for You® Race Against Breast Cancer
Registration for the 26th annual Especially for You® (EFY) Race Against Breast Cancer is open. Race day is Sunday, October 9, when the event will celebrate 26 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 September 14. Individuals can register online through Wednesday, Oct. 5, 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 and breast cancer resources.
Those who register for the race receive an EFY t-shirt and a General Mills goodie bag. This year’s t-shirt color is celadon.
Race Follows Popular Course Route
The EFY Race offers a 5K run, 5K walk or a family fun walk covering a course route similar to last 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. Live music, a pancake breakfast and children’s activities will be offered at the finish line.
How You Help
Race organizers expect approximately 16,000 registrations this year. Last year, 15,728 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, digital breast tomosynthesis, Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) and other support services for individuals in need. Since 2008, EFY has helped more than 5,000 people in need, right here in our community, access 9,000 breast-care 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 Hall-Perrine Cancer Center.
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.
