Run for the Cure set for the starting line
September 22, 2010
Paul Irish
STAFF REPORTER
When Ann Weiss was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 she was surprised, but not shocked.
Her late father dealt with seven bouts of cancer until he died of bone cancer at the age of 87. And her mother died of ovarian cancer.
“Having seen my parents . . . you know it’s there,’’ said Weiss, a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce employee. “It’s something that’s definitely in my family.’’
Weiss, 51, is now cancer-free.
She learned a lot from her parents’ experience and her own.
She will be pounding the pavement with thousands of others running in the CIBC Run for the Cure that takes place Sunday, Oct. 3.
Last year, the run, which features a choice of a one- or five-kilometre course, involved some 170,000 participants and raised $26.5 million.
In the past 10 years, the CIBC employees themselves have raised more than $23 million.
“People are becoming more confident that funds are going to the right places,’’ Weiss said.
Weiss said she uses her father as an example of how to challenge cancer.
“He dealt with the whole thing head on,’’ she said. “He also said it was okay to let people know you had cancer.’’
Weiss shared her diagnosis with colleagues.
“The support I felt was unbelievable,’’ she said. “It was incredible.”
Weiss said being positive is an important ingredient in battling the disease, that you can and will beat your cancer.
Above all, it’s important, she says, not to be afraid, but to look for and find humour in trying circumstances, and to keep on smiling.
For more information on the run, go to www.runforthecure.com.
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