EUGENE/SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KMTR) -- It was a day of heavy lifting at Autzen Stadium and packet plucking in Springfield as volunteers and participants gear up for the Race for the Cure on Sunday.
Hundreds of people picked up their race t-shirts and packets on Saturday, October 20 at the Holiday Inn in Springfield. Meanwhile crews continued the set up at Autzen Stadium to get ready for the third annual Eugene event.
"Thousands of people are going to join us at Autzen Stadium tomorrow morning, bright and early, rain or shine and we're going to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars that fund our work across the state all year long,” said Thomas Bruner, CEO of Komen Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Last year about 6,000 people took part in the Eugene Race for the Cure, raising about $500,000 for Komen Oregon. 75 cents of every dollar goes to life saving screenings, according to Komen.
So far, organizers say things have been going smoothly in preparation for the third race. Several people helped create streamers called dragon tails on Saturday - all of them will hang on the barriers lining the raceway
"You hear people's stories of breast cancer again and you are just reminded continually about how many families are touched by breast cancer and that one in eight women are going to get diagnosed with breast cancer somewhere in their lives, so its just a great reminder of why we do things like Race for the Cure,” said Bruner.
Over at Autzen Stadium, almost all of the race tents and information booths are on paved walking spaces this year, thanks to recent paving work on the Autzen Stadium grounds. The stage has been moved around a little bit as well. Crews will close off traffic on Leo Harris Parkway for the event on Sunday.
Stick with NewsSource 16 on Sunday, October 21 for complete coverage of the race. A special edition of NewsSource 16 will be aired following NFL Sunday Night Football.
