# Race for the Cure 2003
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 15, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426 "2003-05-15T13:10:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2003, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/1 "2003-05-15T13:10:46Z")
Well, it’s that time of year again. Here in Washington, D.C., on June 7, I’ll participate in my third Race for the Cure, an annual 5K (3.5 miles) walk to benefit breast cancer research.
Is anyone else doing it this year, in any city?
[www.nationalraceforthecure.org](http://www.nationalraceforthecure.org)
Our work gets a team together, so there’s no cost to the employee at all. We just have to walk. I can do that.
It’s good exercise, and with any luck it won’t be very sunny.
I decided to do something a little extra this year. You can put a person’s name on a sign you wear on your back (below your bib). I’ve been very fortunate in that no one in my family has suffered from this dread disease, so I’m inviting people to provide me with the names of their loved ones for me to wear on my back, if they’d like. I’d be honored to do so.
So if you’re in the D.C. area that Saturday, watch for me in the walkin’ group!
---
### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/2 "2003-05-15T13:15:12Z")
Oh, there’s also this site:
[http://www.komen.org/race/](http://www.komen.org/race/) ,
which should give the other races, since it’s done in other cities throughout the year.
---
### Author:  [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/3 "2003-05-15T13:34:16Z")
Well I work in a restaurant and we are doing something. I am not exactly sure yet, but I heard that we will be taking little black film containers and asking the guest if they want to donate quarters for the breast cancer research. I thought it was a cool idea.
---
### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/4 "2003-05-15T17:59:47Z")
Yea, and hey, if it’s nice out, 30,000 of us will be getting some exercise in good weather… Why, you just can’t beat that.
I’m very willing to do what I explained in the OP. If anyone here has lost a loved one to breast cancer or has a loved one for a survivor, I’d be happy to wear their name on my back.
---
### Author:  [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/5 "2003-05-16T02:36:27Z")
This Friday I’m walking in the Relay For Life which benefits the American Cancer Society. That’s a walk from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and we work in teams so we have people on the court the entire 12 hours.
Next weekend I’ll be walking in the Race for the Cure walk in Plano, TX. It’s nice to see that other dopers are out there walking for these causes too.
---
### Author:  [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/6 "2003-05-16T03:00:24Z")
I did last year, but we don’t have one in Grapevine this year. Maybe I’ll go walk with Grace up in Plano.
---
### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/7 "2003-06-02T01:39:10Z")
I wanted to bump this just as a last reminder.
At Race for the Cure, you can wear a sign under your bib (or on your front instead of your back) on which you list the names of people you’re racing for - people who have survived breast cancer, people who succumbed to it.
I’m going to wear the names from people I know online - their relatives. I had decided to do this because I didn’t have anyone in my family who had suffered from this disease. I have since learned, however, that my aunt survived it years ago; therefore I’ll wear her name, too.
So I’ll put it to you guys - if anyone would like me to race for one of their loved ones, I’d be deeply honored. You can post their names here or in an email to me.
---
### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/8 "2003-06-23T15:01:48Z")
I guess I should have updated this when it happened. We “raced” in rain. As a result of the weather, the organizers actually shortened the race by a bit. We didn’t know this when we were walking it, though, and I kept thinking we were taking a shortcut.
Anyway, you can check your time and placing online at the Komen Web site.
There were 23,778 participants (there were over 61,000 people registered, though).
I finished 12,513th in 1:11:58. If this were an actual 5K, that would be darn good. I suspect it was more like 2.5K. I normally do this in about 3 hours.
Here’s a question for the mathematically inclined. Is there a way to determine at what percentile I finished, given the provided data? (I don’t know diddley about percentiles, so maybe I’m asking the wrong question, huh?)
---
### Author:  [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/9 "2003-06-23T15:08:44Z")
Let’s see…
12513/23778 is 0.53, so I would interpret that (I hope correctly) to mean you were in the top 53% of finishers. Is that what you’re looking for?
---
### Author:  [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/10 "2003-06-24T00:18:24Z")
Who IS Susan G. Komen, anyway?
---
### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-for-the-cure-2003/175426/11 "2003-06-24T10:26:04Z")
Yeah, that was it, scout. Thanks. I think that’s it, anyway.
Susan G. Komen was a lady who died from breast cancer quite some years ago, and after her death a fund was established to help fight breast cancer. Over the years, as recognition of the disease grew, so did the scope of the fund and the cause as a whole. She wasn’t a celebrity, just a regular woman.