#LightUpMBC Color Fun Run

In the event of rain, the race will be rescheduled for June 23rd from 8:30-10:30am. The event is non-refundable and if you are unable to make the rain date, please feel free to pass your registration to someone else. Please email us and let us know in advance though if transferring because they must sign a waiver.

Race pack and t-shirt pick-up will take place on Wednesday, May 15th from 6:15-7:45pm, at 50 Dairy St, Midland Park.

Tara Kuipers’ Story: State Captain of NJ for #LightUpMBC

In April 2020, I had unexplained pain shooting down my arms and neck. The pain alternated around these spots until resolving in August. Then, immediately after my 38th birthday in November 2020, it returned. The pain became progressively worse, and I saw several physicians. After several MRIs, it was suggested I do a breast self-exam, and it was then that I discovered the lump.
I soon found out I had Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, for which there is no cure. It was in my neck, shoulders, liver, and chest, and I was at risk of becoming paralyzed if I fell or got into an accident. Within a week I had emergency surgery. The tumors had shattered my spine, which is why I was waking up screaming in 10-out-of-10 pain.
By the grace of God and with the help of several friends, I was able to get in to see the best doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I truly consider myself very lucky that I received a diagnosis and was given a chance to fight. I am forever grateful to all the people who helped me along the way to get me to where I am today. I am currently in lifelong treatment. To date I have undergone chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, radiation and I still am not done. This is a battle I will fight for the rest of my life until a cure is found.

I go to Sloan every three weeks to get an injection, take medicine daily and continue to rescan approximately every 5 months.
I understand the reality of my chances at survival, but I plan to shatter those odds. I will fight with everything I have to watch my beautiful children who are only 10 & 8 grow up. I plan on growing old with my husband.

Therefore, I am doing this fundraiser in hopes that for myself and all my MBC sisters there will one day be a cure for MBC.
To date my events have raised over $200K for research and I believe God put me on this path to make a difference and help raise money to find a cure for myself and all of us who are fighting so future generations never have to endure this. I have lost three friends since the race last year to this disease and that is unacceptable.

This event is near and dear to my heart because it takes place in my hometown, Midland Park, which has been an amazing community of support. My family is so incredibly blessed to live here, and I am honored to raise my children here. I hope everyone will come enjoy a fun, unforgettable day.

I believe I am in the hands of God, the great physician, and have total faith he will guide me through. Thank you for your support! I hope to see you on race day when we get one step closer to finding a cure.

Ashley Rizzuto's Story

In July 2021, right before my 38th birthday, I got the devastating news: "You have cancer." Originally, my diagnosis was stage 2, and the plan was a lumpectomy, followed by radiation. After several more scans and tests, they discovered it had already metastasized to my liver. Even today, it can still be difficult to process this diagnosis. I was immediately put on targeted therapy plus hormone blockers. In just 3 months, the cancer in my breast, lymph nodes, and liver was gone. However, that didn't last long before I had progression. My first 3 treatments only worked for 6 months each. Over the past year, I have been on 3 different treatments. The first two led to mixed results and treatment changes....and finally now, I am on a treatment giving better results, and I hope and pray to be on this for a long time.

The hardest part of having cancer is what goes through your mind - the constant fear of the unknown and always worried about what the cancer is doing and what might happen next. Thanks to my faith, my family and friends, and the various lifestyle changes I have made, I have been able to cope fairly well. Cancer changes you - it changes the way you think and how you live your life. I have a 4 year old son - all I want now is to be here a long time for him, to make memories together, to laugh together, and to love each other.

METAvivor has become so important to me throughout this journey. The treatments I am on have enabled me to live a very normal life, despite what is happening inside my body. More funding, research, and awareness is needed to continue developing these amazing treatments - for all of us. I have met some amazing women with MBC, who have been a huge support system for me. The work METAvivor does for stage 4 metastatic breast cancer thrivers is amazing - we need more research, more treatments, and, hopefully, someday, a cure.

Kristin Kubicki’s Story: Marketing Manager

I was first diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in 2011 after finding a lump in my breast when my only child was just a year old. My treatment included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. The medication I took to prevent recurrence did not allow for an opportunity to extend my family biologically. Once I recovered from treatment, I excitedly went full force into life: time with my family, back to work, trips, exercising, and teaching my daughter new things. Six years later, I started having neck pain. After months of working with a chiropractor, the pain got worse. An MRI showed my cancer had metastasized to my spine. I was mentally getting ready for another round of chemo and radiation when my oncologist advised me that with Stage 4, less aggressive treatments are used first to offer the best quality of life. That is when the devastation hit home for me, that there is no cure for MBC and this disease will be part of the rest of my life. I volunteer for METAvivor to increase research and have more treatments available when my cancer outsmarts the current regimen. I want my daughter to have her mother with her as many years as possible.

Jenn Kelly-Registered Nurse

My name is Jenn and I am a registered nurse, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend and breast cancer warrior.
When I was 24 years old I was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer- de novo. I had just started my dream job as a labor and delivery nurse. My whole life I have loved helping people, and I was now being able to bring life and love into the world. Not long after starting this position, I noticed a cutie clementine sized lump in my left breast. After many doctors appointments and imaging, I was initially put off given my age and that this lump was something benign. This radiologist even told me to follow up with another mammogram in 10 years. If I had just stopped there and listened to that radiologist, I would probably be dead before my 10 year check up. Luckily I didn’t accept his diagnosis, advocated for myself and went to further doctors- who did not agree with the mammogram results. Many scans and biopsies and doctors later I was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer that metastasized to the lymph nodes, liver, and spine.
Upon this diagnosis, I knew I had to take my professional background and make lemonade out of lemons. I want to spread awareness to younger adults and help them be an advocate for their own health. If my diagnosis could help just one person then that’s all I want.
This past year has been filled with progression, difficult side effects, emotional turmoil, and too many doctors appts, emergency room visits, tests and treatments to count. I’m currently enrolled in a clinical trial that has helped stabilize the disease, but I live each month not knowing if it will continue to work.

That is why donations to MBC and research for Stage 4 is so important in finding new treatments, and hopefully a cure. I pray for a day we find a treatment that will help me and many other men and women live a long, healthy life. As of right now, statistics show that estimated expected life survival of someone with MBC is 5 years.
This diagnosis has forever changed my life but I refuse to let it TAKE my life. I am a young woman who loves reading, painting, hiking, traveling, and LIVING. I am not ready to give any of that up.

I love being an advocate for MBC and METAvivor. I am very passionate of raising awareness of this disease, researching, and hoping for a day that this disease is something you can have a long normal life with.
If you’re interested on learning more or want to follow my journey, follow me on instagram @journeyofjenn

Cassie Romano's Story

My name is Cassie and I’ve been living with metastatic breast cancer since November of 2020.

In January of 2020, at 42 years old, I went for a routine mammogram. I felt great and had not been experiencing any symptoms that would lead me to feel anything other than my usual, healthy self. However, there was a history of breast cancer in my family, so I was being proactive and had been getting these tests since I was 38 years old.

The result of this mammogram was different. It showed that there was a spot found in my right breast as well as a spot in a lymph node. I would need a biopsy done, but it was very suspicious for breast cancer.

I’ll never forget the feeling I had after leaving the imaging center that Friday evening. It’s very surreal to walk into a building having a pretty normal, predictable life and walk out 2 hours later feeling like everything had suddenly changed. Similar to what an out of body experience might feel like. In the span of 120 minutes, my ordinary life vanished and in the weeks to come, I would be catapulted into an entirely new existence. One filled with enormous amounts of unpredictability, fear and anxiety like I had never experienced before.

After my biopsy results came back, it was confirmed that I indeed had breast cancer. It was stage 2b at that time. My friends and family all celebrated at the fact that it was caught early. My primary care doctor told me it would be the most difficult year of my life, but it would one day be nothing more than a distant memory. The many positive words from loved ones and doctors made me feel very hopeful.

Following weeks of consultations and testing, I underwent a double mastectomy and lymph node removal. While I recovered in New Jersey, my father who lives in South Dakota, was also diagnosed with cancer of his own. So we were both going through treatments at the same time…along with navigating a pandemic.

Four months after I completed my last radiation session and I was finally starting to feel like my old self, my life would change once again. A swollen gland in my neck resulted in a scan, then more scans and finally a liver biopsy/resection. These events ultimately led to the discovery that my breast cancer had returned and had spread to my liver. The new diagnosis I was given was stage iv breast cancer…which was now incurable.

In the last two years, I have had progression to my spine, more rounds of radiation and I am currently on my 2nd line of treatment to slow the spread of this unpredictable disease. I take a chemo pill every morning, get bloodwork and injections every four weeks and get scans every three months. Managing the mental and physical side effects of metastatic breast cancer has now become my full time job.

This is definitely not the life I ever imagined, but until there is a cure, this is the life I will fight for and continue to try and raise awareness to help the thousands of others on this same journey.

Nicole Panepinto's Story

Stacey Sanders's Story

In the summer of 2020, I felt a lump in my breast which I brought up to my doctor at the time. I knew something didn’t feel right, but with no physical symptoms, I was told that it was likely dense breast tissue and not to worry.

In May 2021 I went for a routine mammogram. I was called back to the office for an ultrasound and then a biopsy. I received a call a few days later saying I had stage 2 HER2-positive breast cancer.

I was shocked to learn about my diagnosis since there was no family history of any kind of cancer.

Thanks to the support of my family and friends, I was able to get an appointment at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC. A month later I had a lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy. After surgery I found out that my lymph nodes and margins were clear, my ONCA score was a 1 and I did not have the BRCA gene. I did 4 weeks of radiation and thought I was going to be cancer-free. This was great – I just have to go for mammograms every 6 months along with blood work and I’ll be fine. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

In June 2022, on a routine 6-month oncology appointment, I found out that one of my tumor markers was elevated. After an MRI, PET Scan, liver biopsy and more blood work – I found out that the cancer had spread to my liver, and I now have Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I had several consultations with a liver oncologist and decided to have a liver ablation which, according to the Doctor, would prolong my life. This procedure was the most painful recovery. Months went by with regular blood work, scans and MRI appointments. My oncologist suggested I meet with a gynecological oncologist. My cancer is fueled by estrogen so removing that from my body is critical. A couple of months ago I had a partial hysterectomy. Thankfully, this recovery was easier, but going to the hospital and being treated for cancer never gets easier.

I have since learned from further exploration that my cancer was certified as a causal occurrence from the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. After working across the street from the site of the World Trade Center buildings for years before, I was only decades later beginning to show symptoms of illness.

People always say to me, you look fine how do you have stage 4 cancer? I respond, I may look ok from the outside but on the inside my body is fighting a war. Right now, this cancer is never-ending. I take several medications daily, including a chemo drug called Ibrance, which helps slow the progression of cancer, but it can also cause side effects, some of which are serious. The disappointment of not being able to do all of the things I used to do is very present. I feel fatigued, nauseated, and have painful side effects daily from all the medications I’m on for my lifetime…or until there is a cure. Though the medicine is working at this time, and my cancer treatment is under control as it is.

I am always reading about and looking for any new research findings available to treat Metastatic Breast Cancer and finding that research makes me hopeful that progress is always possible. The cancer I have is not curable, but it is treatable. Research is so much more important to me now that I am one of the lives that wants to be saved.

I try to make the best of it. Stay positive, and not dwell on my diagnosis. I have a great support system that includes my live-in boyfriend, Jeff Smookler, my family and friends, and a great therapist who brings me a different perspective when those closest to me are feeling too emotionally connected to my illness and its current outlook. I belong to a Facebook support group online, and it gives me hope to know that I am not alone in this—that there are other women who may be on my same journey, dealing with the same kinds of things, and we have one another to share frustrations and hopes with too.

My greatest motivator is to see my niece and nephews, ages 21, 19 and 17, to grow up and become adults, with celebrations and milestones.

I believe that with research, it’s possible I will be there to see them, and celebrate alongside them. Why can’t I be one of the women who live another 15 or 20 years? Progress is always possible. I stay mindful of that.

In Loving Memory of Jenny Kalajian

Jenny passed away on January 7th, 2024 from metastatic breast cancer and will be missed by many. She participated in the Light Up MBC Color Run in Midland Park the past few years and wanted to support grants through METAvivor that can help get us closer to a cure. If you would like to support, you can make a donation here in her memory.

Jenny's MBC Journey (In her words)

I was diagnosed with MBC in August of 2020. I am an Adventurer, hiker, rock scrambler, gardener, paddle-boarder, Physical Therapist, loving wife, mother, & friend.

My diagnosis was a (unwelcome) surprise. I had some unresolved back pain that I attributed to lugging my paddleboard....X-rays showed spots in lumbar/pelvic areas. I was referred to an oncologist, bone biopsy, bloodwork, and received a diagnosis of MBC, despite years of regular negative mammograms. I was certainly an unhappy and despondent camper at that time.

I have teamed up with METAvivor because it gives me factual and anecdotal information & support from others dealing with MBC. It provides opportunities to make meaningful personal connections, make our collective voices heard, and financial contributions to advance research for more effective treatment plans. Most importantly, I have learned through METAvivor that science, family, friends, & community support, some humor, and a bit of stubborn optimism are key to living with MBC with an active future.

Please donate if you can, as all money goes to research and with that comes the hope of new medications on the horizon soon.

In Loving Memory of Angela Rogers

In April 2021 at the start of her third trimester of pregnancy, Angela started to have pain to her lower right ribs. She was sent to ultrasound and results were it was just some pregnancy complications of gallstones.

The pain continued till after delivery. She was sent for multiple scans along with having lab work done, the scan results concluded

she had “Metastasis of unknown origin” in her liver and bones. She was sent for a biopsy of her right hip and in November 2021 was given the diagnosis of Stage 4 Breast Cancer.

Without any family history, at the age of 37, with a newborn, she had just been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

As overwhelming as the diagnosis was, she was so blessed to have so many supportive people surround her. Her goal was to keep fighting to watch her kids grow up. She fought until her last day. Angela passed away from MBC last year, at the age of 39.

METAvivor and the Color Run became an important cause for Angela, as all funds go to metastatic breast cancer research. This research can lead to more treatments and hopefully eventually a cure.

In Loving Memory of Lena Padovano

Lena loved her community and was a huge asset to the town of Midland Park. She developed many PTA programs and loved to foster learning among the community's young people. She also dedicated herself for more than 15 years to the Girl Scouts of America, leading many troops over the years and inspiring many young girls. She also served on the Midland Park Library Board and Friends of the Library Board.

Lena passed away from MBC. We hope to continue to raise money for a cure so that no other families have to experience this loss.

Fundraising is by no means required, but we wanted to offer as an option for those would like to participate in raising money to find a cure. When you register for the race, please pick to fundraise alone or become part of a team and you will receive an email in the following weeks with simple instructions on how to set up your fundraising page.

Parking options:

The Midland Park Jr Sr High School. The address is 250 Prospect St, Midland Park, NJ 07432, United States. You can find this location on Google Maps HERE.

The Church of Nativity. The address is 315 Prospect St, Midland Park, NJ 07432, United States. You. an find this location on Google Maps HERE.

You will want to wear a white shirt to the event, so you can proudly display your colors. We have designed the perfect T-shirt for the event and the first 100 participants to register will receive it for free. After that, T-shirts will be $10 to help cover the cost and that way we can get as much money to METAvivor as possible. You also may just wear a plain white T-shirt.

Sunglasses are also a must to protect your eyes. Please feel free to bring your own or we will have some for sale the day of the event in case you forget.