A sea of pink will brighten up the Esperance foreshore on Mother’s Day as runners and walkers support breast and ovarian cancer research.
This year’s annual Mother’s Day Classic will be on Sunday May 11 and features an 8km run and 4km walk.
The fundraising event has a personal meaning for organiser Andrea Wynne and others in the Esperance community.
“I had a friend who had breast cancer and also my Godmother,” Ms Wynne said.
“Her children were going to be alone for Mother’s Day, so we thought it was a great way to honour her and to raise money.
“The more people I speak to in town, the more people I find have been touched by breast cancer or ovarian cancer.
“We know research is the best way to finding a cure.”
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in Australia, with 58 people diagnosed per day.
Since 1994 the survival rate has increased from 76 per cent to 92 per cent but nine Australians still die from it each day.
Ovarian cancer is less common, though lack of early detection tools means 70 per cent of cases go untreated until the late stages.
Around 1815 Australians are diagnosed with ovarian cancer annually, with a 49 per cent survival rate five years after initial detection.
Over $46 million has been raised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation through the Mother’s Day Classic since its commencement in 1998.
Last year 500 people participated in the Esperance charity day but this year Ms Wynne said registration numbers are down slightly, though still tracking well.
Ms Wynne is hoping to draw 500 people again before registrations close on May 10.
“I think it’s a great sense of community… It is Mother’s Day so it’s a great way to honour mum and it means a lot to me to see the community come and support each other for a fun and healthy activity,” she said.
“For the run event there are prizes for first female and first male,” she said, adding, “there’s also a prize for highest fundraising team, highest individual fundraiser and best dressed.”
Running participants will need to be at the whale tail at 7am for registration.
Walkers must be there at 7:45am.
