Real Men Wear Pink
I’ve written before about how much fun I have out running with my friend Lisa, who is among the fittest of my friends. Well, Saturday I had the chance to run the Komen Columbus Race for the Cure with her. Now, when I say run, I mean more like, she ran, and I jogged lightly, then walked, then jogged, then walked the 3.1 miles that makes up a 5K.
Lisa works for Limited Brands, the local powerhouse that owns Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and C.O. Bigelow among other brands. We spent the early morning having breakfast at the Limited offices in northeast Columbus and hearing stories of survival from Limited associates and friends that made the reason for the race really hit home. The Limited supports Komen Columbus with huge financial contributions and sponsors their employees and guests in the race. They also provided busses to and from the race, which made running that much more enjoyable, as nobody wants to try to find parking downtown during this big of an event.
The atmosphere at the Komen is one of pure inspiration. The race raises millions to help with breast cancer research and 3/4 of the money raised by the organization goes right out to help with the fight.
The Race for the Cure is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) charity runs in the Columbus area, with over 40,000 runners attending this year alone.
On the race route, the runners & walkers are encouraged by members of the community, cheered for by cheerleaders from local schools, serenaded by both local solo musicians and bands, and entertained by local dance groups. My favorite part of the run was coming within sight of the finish line and seeing a long string of bikers revving up their Harleys and cheering the runners on–many of the male bikers donning black leather jackets over pastel t-shirts that clearly read “Real Men Wear Pink.”
After the race, many local companies were represented, giving away free items including: spot remover from Stanley Steamer, ice cream from the Skinny Cow, iced coffee from Starbucks and scarves from Ford’s Warriors in Pink campaign among others.
If you’ve never done it and you have the opportunity next year to run the Komen, I can promise you it will be an experience you won’t regret.
Columbus, Ohio, OH, Komen, Race for the Cure, Limited Brands, breast cancer, real men wear pink
Leave a Reply