Record participation, funds raised in 2026 breast cancer awareness race

It’s become a tradition for the West End Legends to gather, get dressed up in hot pink and gab about their late girlfriend on the first Sunday of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Mary was a beauty, a brain, an athlete and a friend,” said Linda Opalko, a 67-year-old member of the fundraising team founded in honour of Mary Stawychny.

Stawychny’s last breath was taken the same day the group — made up of friends the career teacher maintained since she grew up on Ingersoll Street more than 50 years ago — got together for the 2022 CIBC Run for the Cure.

“We were walking as she was leaving us four years ago,” Opalko said as she and fellow fundraisers strolled down Wellington Crescent on Sunday morning.

Stawychny’s loved ones raised more than $11,350 combined for breast cancer research in her honour this year.

The 2026 event drew upwards of 2,600 runners and walkers to Assiniboine Park for the 35th iteration of the annual one- and five-kilometre walk in the Manitoba capital.

Raizza Bondoc, 30, was among those who’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer at some point during their lives.

The first-time event participant was only 27 when she began the first of 20 rounds of radiation. She learned she had inherited the BRCA2 gene about a decade ago.

“I’m running for myself, for my mom and for my aunties,” she said, adding that she has lost multiple relatives to the disease.

Bondoc is currently taking an oral medication daily to block cancer cells from using estrogen to grow.

Her boyfriend signed up for the race on Sunday to show his support; the duo took every step of the five-kilometre track together.

The 30-year-old said she had one key piece of advice to anyone who wants to support someone living with cancer in their life.

“Emotional support is very important. Stay positive,” she said, adding that she felt touched and became teary-eyed upon seeing all the supporters of breast cancer research on Sunday.

Roughly 200 participants with firsthand experience with breast cancer were gifted a blush-pink carnation before the race began shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Bloomex, which sourced the bouquets, was among a lengthy list of local donors that included Harvest Baker and Deli and Coal and Canary.

“Everything is exceeding expectations — the energy of the crowd, the weather,” said Ruth Bruinooge, a volunteer member of the run-day experience team who has been cancer-free for five years.

Bruinooge noted that a record number of participants also raised a record amount of money — approximately $561,000 — for breast cancer research this year.

“We know research is saving lives. That’s the reason I’m still alive,” the volunteer said.

This fall marks the first time the race was held at Assiniboine Park.

Fitness instructor Darlene Sveinson, who taught phys-ed at an all-girls school for more than 30 years, led the warm up on the Lyric Theatre stage.

“I can give the gift of time, of energy and of enthusiasm,” Sveninson said.

The retired teacher called breast cancer awareness something that is “very close to my heart.”

Sveninson helped organize Girls for the Cure, a student-specific spinoff of the CIBC Run for the Cure during her tenure at Balmoral Hall.

The West Broadway school’s charity walk is scheduled for Thursday.

The West End Legends first signed up for the Canadian Cancer Society’s annual fall fundraiser shortly after they learned about their friend’s diagnosis.

This year, 14 members donned pink pins, beaded bracelets and handmade crowns, each outfitted with two balloons attached to them to resemble a pair of breasts.

“It’ll be a yearly thing — for as long as we can walk,” said Brenda Paterson, who took every step of the five-kilometre walk with Stawychny.

Paterson pinned a printed photo of her longtime classmate, accompanied with the phrase “walking for our beautiful friend Mary,” on her T-shirt.

The senior became teary-eyed as she described how special the tradition is for loved ones of a lifelong athlete.

Paterson travelled more than 2,100 kilometres west, from her new hometown of Elora, Ont. to Assiniboine Park, to take part on Sunday.

Winnipeg is one of roughly 50 communities across Canada that held the breast cancer fundraiser this weekend.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca