CIBC Run for the Cure takes off in Saskatoon

Barb Jack never imagined she’d be an inspirational speaker.

Yet there she was Sunday, sending off roughly 2,000 people at Prairieland Park running in the CIBC Run for the Cure as she shared her story of overcoming breast cancer.

Jack was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2013. Three months later, Jack underwent surgery to remove her right breast and 32 lymph nodes before entering six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment that wrapped up in February 2014.

Jack admits the day of her diagnosis is a blur in her memory, but many days leading up to the surgery are as vivid as ever.

“One time I was doing laundry and I found a shirt that I just loved. Just the fact that shirt would never be worn again made me fall down and cry for probably half an hour in my laundry room all by myself,” she said.

Barb Jack speaks to the crowd gathered at Prairieland Park for the 2019 CIBC Run for the Cure on Oct. 6, 2019. (Keenan Sorokan/650 CKOM)

“You just pick yourself up and you just keep going.”

The annual run raised roughly $16 million for breast cancer research and programs across the country last year. Since 1992, the run has raised close to $445 million for the cause, and it is known as one of the largest one-day events for breast cancer research fundraising in the country.

Kalina Barlow, run site leader for the Canadian Cancer Society, said the focus for organizers is making the day positive for the army of pink shirts, wigs, and shoes that accompany the families and friends running in support of cancer survivors and victims.

“We just really want to make sure of the things going on and (we are) doing our best to fund raise towards breast cancer research,” Barlow said of the run that happened in 57 different locations in Canada on Sunday.

Runners are given two distances to choose from: a 5-km run or a 1-km run.

Jack’s recovery was a long journey that didn’t finish until February, the end of five years of hormone therapy treatment.

She admits there were plenty of long days, but she knew her limits and would constantly look at the positives of her situation.

“Positive thinking — you have to deal with the world with a smile on your face and know that there’s something better on the other side,” Jack said.

With the run soon approaching its 30th year of fundraising, Jack feels it’s just a matter of time before a cure is found.

“We aren’t working this hard not to find it,” she said. “We need to find a cure for this cancer, and every other cancer.”