Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Run

You know, raising money for charity is a curious thing. It brings out the best in some people, and the worst in others. I learnt that this week.

A few of my friends and I decided to take part in the annual BCA Run organized by the Hash House Harriets running (drinking!!) group on Saturday, 7 October. Originally, I was just going to pay my $25 registration fee, run/walk/hobble/crawl (in that order) the 5km and be done with it. I had also sent out information to my friends and family, asking them to join me. My dad didn’t want to do the run, but said he would give me $50 for the cause.

That gave me the idea to approach other people for sponsorship. I asked around at work and even hit up a couple of ex-boyfriends for money! I was very pleased that almost everyone opened their wallets and contributed generously. Within four days, I collected $1,351 for the Breast Cancer Foundation. Most of you know that this year, I lost a good friend to bile duct cancer and my aunt to lung cancer. I also have two friends who are currently in remission with breast cancer, one of whom is only 33. So this is a cause which is definitely very close to my heart.

The whole point of the run is to raise awareness of the disease and this week showed me that unfortunately, there are still ignorant people out there. One of my colleagues not only refused to donate any money as he said breast cancer didn’t affect him, he even went further and made a tasteless joke about it! Although it was hard for me to keep my cool, I managed to do so by reminding myself that a calm reaction would show him how immature he was being. It probably didn’t, but maybe some day he will realize that cancer is not as far away from his life as he’d like to believe.

Thankfully, some of my other colleagues were simply amazing and helped me to collect money from their departments. You know who you are and I am very grateful! Thank you so much and also to everyone who contributed to hopefully saving somebody’s life.

The race itself was a lot of fun. It was a very hazy day so not the best conditions for running outdoors. However, the group made up for it with their enthusiasm by bombing down the main shopping areas of our small island with the braver souls (both men and women) wearing decorated bras over their shirts. It must have been a real sight for the unsuspecting Saturday afternoon crowd out for a quiet coffee or two!

I ran/walked with my friends, all of whom are much fitter than I am but I made up for my slowness by raising the most money so whatever haha! This is the first time we’ve ever done any sort of charity event together so it was wonderful for us as a group.

Next week, a few of us are also participating in the 8th Annual Red Dress run to raise money for another charity. Red dresses are mandatory for all runners. Watch for those photos as I know that some of the men will even wear pumps. I hope that that will give me an advantage in keeping up with them!

P.S. I am still on sabbatical. Isn't it amazing what I can achieve when I'm not busy chasing boys?!! :-D