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Chicagoland #LightUpMBC Fun Run

Be A Hero!

Chicagoland #LightUpMBC

BE A HERO

 Fun Run


October 1, 2023 at Settler's Park

Plainfield, IL

Registration starts at 11am

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** Swag Bags may be limited or out of stock during late registration**

#LightUpMBC shines a light on the importance of critical funding for Metastatic Breast Cancer research, also known as Stage 4, where cancer has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body. As of today there is NO CURE.

Please join us on Sunday, October 1st, 2023 for our 3rd annual Chicagoland #LightUpMBC event to raise awareness and funding for research. This event is sure to be unforgettable for HERO's of all ages and their families. We will start our 1.1-mile run/walk with a SUPERHERO launch, then as you propel through the ribbon, you will bring renewal and hope, while taking a quantum leap to bring a cure to end Stage IV. No Experience necessary!


Together we can make a difference.

You can be a part of stopping this disease from being terminal.

We hope you will join us at this meaningful event to raise money to find a cure for MBC.


There are several ways to get involved in the #LightUpMBC Fun Run:

1. Register to participate in the race in person or virtually. You have the option to participate individually, create a team, or join an existing team

2. Help us fundraise by sharing your unique fundraising page created by Race Roster with family and friends

3. Unable to participate? Make a donation to support MBC research

4. Become a Sponsor




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Are you an MBC Thriver?

Contact us at ILLightUPMBC@gmail.com prior to registering!

2022 Chicagoland #LightUpMBC Color Fun Run


What Is #LightUpMBC?

#LightUpMBC is an annual global landmark campaign, that shines a light on the importance of awareness and funding for MBC.

Our virtual broadcast #LightUpMBC Live will take place on October 13, 2023 at 8:30 PM ET/ 5:30 PM PT and feature inspiring stories told by MBC patients, illuminated landmarks and musical guests. The show will be live streamed through LiveOne and viewable on all METAvivor channels including Facebook Live and YouTube @METAvivor and at www.METAvivor.org/LightUpMBC

MBC FACTS

  • Approximately 30% of early stage breast cancer survivors will have a recurrence as metastatic disease
  • Metastases can occur as early as several months to 25+ years after treatment
  • 685,000 people a year die from metastatic breast cancer globally
  • Only 22% of U.S. MBC patients live longer than 5 years, and only 11% of live longer than 10 years
  • There is NO CURE for MBC

Stories of Local Women with MBC

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April Courtright

My name is April Courtright. I am an Illinois state captain and a state ambassador for #LightUpMBC 2023. I am a wife, sister, and daughter. And I am a mother to my 8-year-old son. I was diagnosed with Her 2+ Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer at the end of 2019 at the age of 33 shortly before my 34th birthday. I was also diagnosed de novo, which means I was diagnosed with Stage IV from the start and did not discover my cancer previously at an earlier stage. We discovered cancer had spread to much of my spine, pelvis, hip, leg, and ovaries. I underwent chemo and targeted therapies, but unfortunately, those treatments stopped working for me in September 2021. We then were shocked to discover many lesions in my brain. I had whole brain radiation and I am now on more intense chemo. And truthfully cancer has made life tough for my small family. I have been living with breast cancer in my brain now for the 2 years

There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. I will keep on my treatment until it stops working, and then move on to another treatment until there are no treatments left available. I was stunned to learn less than 5% of all funding from pink ribbon campaigns actually goes towards metastatic breast cancer research. The median life expectancy for someone diagnosed with Metastatic Breast Cancer is 3 years, and our 5-year survival rate is very low. And shockingly those numbers have not changed in an impactful way over the last few decades, and stories like mine are becoming the norm. I want to be here and be the mom my son will need in the future.

Our MBC community is in desperate need of research. Research is how we live!



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Lisa Mayer


My name is Lisa Mayer and I HAVE metastatic breast cancer (MBC).


In June of 2016, I went to my primary doctor who ordered a chest x-ray, the next doctor wouldn't return my phone calls and the next one diagnosed me with a viral infection in my lungs. It wasn't until I pointed out to him that the lymph nodes by my collarbone didn't feel right. I was sent to a surgeon who took out the lymph node and on October 20, 2016, I was told over the phone that I had metastatic breast cancer.... I was diagnosed de novo which means it was stage 4 right from the start. I always made sure I had my yearly mammogram including one 2 months before I received that awful phone call. All those mammograms were normal; so how could I have breast cancer in both lungs, stomach, spine, and many lymph nodes? I was told that I would be lucky to live 3 years with this incurable disease. My first treatment was 6 months of chemo. I ended up in the ER so many times because my immune system was so weak. In Feb. of 2017 I was admitted to the ICU for 6 days with pneumonia, had 1.5 liters of fluid drained from my lung, and was so weak I needed a wheelchair. My family wasn't sure I was going to leave the hospital alive.
For the last 6 years, I have been with no evidence of disease. I have been taking a targeted therapy drug and a hormone blocker to prevent the cancer from waking up and spreading again. Stage 4 has no cure. I will be on treatment for the rest of my life. People say to me that I look great. What they don't know is I go to counseling almost every week to deal with having mbc, I never go anywhere without knowing where a bathroom is, and the fatigue I have is debilitating.
It will be 7 years in October that I have been fighting to live, watching my friends die around me, and praying this doesn't happen to my children and relatives. THIS is why I am fundraising for METAvivor. We need a cure now. We need money for research because 30% of early-stage breast cancers will progress to stage 4. I have been an advocate for the last 2 years and I tell my story to everyone that will listen. So many people haven't heard of MBC or stage 4 breast cancer; I was one of those people almost 7 years ago. Please help me raise money to help educate and find a cure for metastatic breast cancer. Thank you.

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Christina Polizzi Bargielowwski

Hi! My name is Christina and I am living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). I have been happily married to my lifelong love Bill for the last 22 years. We have three amazing children, 23 year old twin daughters Alyssa and Brianna, and our 20 year old son Anthony.

I was diagnosed stage 4 de novo (which is Latin for from the beginning) two years ago on May 6, 2021. I was just your average 40 year old working mother going in for her first routine mammogram. I have no family history of breast cancer, so I wasn't concerned in the least about going in for this standard screening. That was until a couple of weeks before my appointment when I noticed a hard spot (I wouldn't even call it a lump) on my right breast. Lo and behold after a few weeks of appointments for initial mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies, and CT scans, I was told those words that nobody ever thinks they will hear. "The cancer has spread to your liver and you are now stage 4. We can treat you, but there is no cure."
I am grateful that my initial rounds of chemo made my disease undetectable. Because my cancer was her2 positive only, I have been on her2 targeted maintenance treatments since then. Most cancer treatments have risks and side effects though. My current treatment has caused my heart function to drop, so I need to closely monitor that. My last mammogram in April showed a new area of concern, and after more biopsies, it was found to be DCIS. Even though surgery for stage 4 is not the standard course of treatment, my oncologist presented my case to the tumor board and I was approved for surgery. I underwent a lumpectomy this past June consisting of 3 incisions and 8 lymph nodes being removed, and am currently undergoing 30 radiation treatments. I am not the same person I was before I was diagnosed. This disease has taken a toll on my body and has prevented me from doing the things I love. I am fundraising because MBC needs more! There are far too many of us living with this disease, and we desperately need better, more tolerable, life saving treatments!


Example of T-shirt

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Event schedule

  • Sun, October 1, 2023 11:00 AM - Check in
  • Sun, October 1, 2023 12:00 PM - Hero Run/Walk Begins

Contact information

Event contact
April Courtright
Email
ILLightUPMBC@gmail.com
Phone
815-342-8586
Website
Visit website

Sponsors

  • "Sparkle" Event Sponsors

  • "Gold" Event Sponsors

  • Family Sponsor

    • The Benson Family
    • The Bargielowski Family
    • The Courtright Family
    • The Kintz Family
    • The Mayer Family
    • The Stanfill Family
    • The SuS Family