1 / 1 Determination Award winner Shelli Green and other participants set out at the start of the CIBC Run for the Cure walk/run event at Maffeo Sutton Park on Sunday, Oct. 5. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin) Advertisement

Hundreds of community members in Nanaimo ran, walked, and made a difference in breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment, care and advocacy.

The CIBC Run for the Cure was held Sunday, Oct. 5, at Maffeo Sutton Park, with 398 participants raising more than $60,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Manna Wescott, creative services manager with the society, said fundraising makes life-saving breast cancer research possible, funds compassionate care, and gives hope to people affected by breast cancer. She noted that since the event's origins in the early 1990s, $522 million has been raised.

She said through community support in places like Nanaimo, the Canadian Cancer Society has helped shift conversations and push provincial governments to act, for example by lowering the minimum age for breast cancer screening from 50 to 40. Wescott said a breast cancer diagnosis in 2025 looks very different than it did decades ago, with 89 per cent of patients now living at least five years beyond their diagnosis.

"For one powerful day we come together to run, walk, fundraise and honour the important people in our lives affected by breast cancer, but the impact lasts far, far beyond the finish line," she said.

At the Nanaimo event, a handful of exceptional fundraising efforts were recognized. Lorrie's Chemosabes won the team award, the VIU Political Studies Students' Association won the school award, and Heath Has Heart won the corporate team award. Angels Abreast won the women's team award and Shelli and Kevin Green and the Fantastic Flamingos won the determination award.