Komen Race for the Cure turns Mother’s Day into a day of joy

Nothing about Elaine Celenza signals that she is, in her own words, "living on borrowed time."

Her greenish-gray eyes radiate calm. The Haddonfield resident answers questions about the breast cancer that has spread to her bones as if she were telling a friend how to get to the grocery store.

Celenza, 48, is the fifth person in her family to have breast cancer. But when the Joseph A. Ferko String Band, captained by her husband, Anthony, marches by and plays "When You're Smiling," she turns to watch and tap her toes.

"I don't want the sorrow and the pity," she said.

For Celenza and about 40 friends and family members, Sunday was a day to celebrate not only Mother's Day but life by participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which began and ended at the Art Museum circle.

Calling themselves "Elaine's Brigade," Celenza and her crew joined about 40,000 others for the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run and walk.

Swaddled in the Komen Foundation's signature pink clothing, the racers were expected to raise $3.5 million for breast cancer research this year.

Women wore pink wigs, feather boas and tutus. Even a few men were moved to Think Pink.

Elgin Horton, a landscaper from Lansdale, wore a faux-fur pink hat with a dusting of silver sparkles, a pink cape and pink earrings in the shape of the breast-cancer ribbon.

"It's all pink for all the ladies," Horton said. He planned to walk with his mother, Heddie Brown, of Norristown, who was found to have the disease 16 years ago.

Before the race began about 8:30 a.m., Brown and thousands of other survivors walked down the Art Museum steps, which were decorated with four huge arches made of pink balloons.

"It was emotional, but a good feeling," Brown said of the Survivors Parade.

Anyone looking for proof that people can live with cancer could find it Sunday in Margaret Zuccotti of Jenkintown. In 2006, at the age of 37, she was found to have Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer. On Sunday, she was the first survivor to finish the race, wrapping it up in just over 22 minutes.

It was the fourth time she had been the first survivor winner at this race.

Karl Savage, 31, of Ardmore, was the first male finisher, in 15 minutes and 48 seconds. His girlfriend, Francesca Magri, 27, of Philadelphia, was the first woman, coming in at 19 minutes 25 seconds.

The Komen Foundation at times has been criticized as overly commercial, and on Sunday, the marketers were out in full force. Ford Motor Co. had a tent to promote its "Warriors in Pink" fund-raising program, which sponsors the race.

The Komen Foundation had a giant booth where it sold T-shirts and other pink items bearing the slogan "Purchase with purpose to end breast cancer forever."

Foundation officials say they are simply raising money to cure breast cancer in every way they can. This year, the group will fund $55 million in research grants, they said.

Jodi Krawitz, who oversees human resources at World Imports, a Philadelphia furniture company, raised $2,681 for this year's event because the money pays for not only research but medical care.

"A lot of this money goes to women who don't have health insurance," said Krawitz, of Hatfield.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, but says she believes it was treated successfully.

"I look around, and I see all these pink shirts, and I see that I am not alone," she said.

Where Krawitz works, they call her "Spunky," for her perennially upbeat attitude. Her coworker, Vicki Little, who also had breast cancer, joined her at the walk.

"I got no boobies, but lots of gut," said Little, pointing to her belly.

For Little and others, one of the day's goals was to turn an event that could be funereal into something fun.

Ever year, doctors diagnose about 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women, and roughly 40,000 people lose their lives to the disease. But at the Art Museum, jokes abounded.

People wore shirts with slogans such as "Don't let cancer steal second base" and "Keep cancer from the cups."

Celenza has forced herself to focus on the small blessings in her life.

Until recently, she worked as a secretary at Christ the King Regional School in Haddonfield, where the children boosted her spirits.

"My kids all made me scarves when I lost my hair," Celenza said. "When it started to grow back, they got so excited."

She has had a lot of practice with breast cancer. Her mother, Elaine Brown, died of it four years ago. Her sister, cousin and aunt have all had it.

The good news, she said, is that her 22-year-old daughter, Erica Jacovini, does not have the gene associated with the disease.

Celenza does not know whether she will live long enough to see next year's Race for the Cure. She admits that, like everyone else, she has moments of immense sadness.

"You let it go," she said. "You have to find the other side. It's the only way to help everybody else deal with it. If you let it in, it will overwhelm you."