Making Strides.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month and Making Strides for Breast Cancer is the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the United States. Ever since my grandma Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer many years ago, I have been passionate about this cause. Fortunately, she and many other women I know have successfully beat this disease. However, many of us know women who have not been as successful, which makes it even more important to me to support efforts that raise awareness about the importance of screenings and raise money for funding research to improve diagnosis and outcomes.

Some coworkers and I chose to participate in The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk and had a bake sale at work to help raise money for the event. 

There are a number of risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer and one of those factors is smoking. Although a few studies suggest that there is no link between breast cancer and smoking, many studies have found that the risk is high for women who  started smoking at a young age. An active focus of research now is weather secondhand smoke increases the risk of breast  cancer. 

A look at Cook Inlet...

There was plenty of pink at the event and were approximately 1,000 people who participated in the walk, including friends and family members of those who have battled breast cancer and survivors themselves.

The morning was quite chilly, but we had fun anyway. The walk was a 5K that looped through downtown Anchorage and onto the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.

Even the firefighters decked out a fire truck in pink to support the cause...

Cheers to October and raising awareness for Breast Cancer. I hope you had a great weekend!