Wolves Against Breast Cancer

A tall young gentleman stood in workout clothes, pink calf-high socks and mutton chops. Garth Linscott is a criminal justice major at Western. When asked why he was participating in the annual 5K run, hosted by Western’s Wolves Against Breast Cancer, he replied, “I figured I was going to work out on the treadmill this morning anyway, so I thought I might as well do it here.”

Of course, there is more to it than that: Linscott’s mother is a breast cancer survivor, so he was willing to pay the last-minute $30 entrance fee to participate.

He was not the only one who had secondhand experience with breast cancer. Deborah White, a teacher from Dallas, said she was running to support her niece, who was young when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The track was active on Saturday morning, and the wide variety of people was kind of shocking to Western’s usually young-adult-filled campus. There were children, college students and adults. Many of the runners were getting pumped up on the energy of their peers, the sun and the pop music playing in the background.

Some had their dogs on leashes, and the pets seemed just as decked out in running gear as their masters.  

Jessica Henderson, the faculty advisor of Wolves Against Breast Cancer, said that the club would be using the funds raised by the race to travel to Washington, D.C. to attend the National Breast Cancer Coalition Conference.

The group’s ultimate goal is to eradicate breast cancer by 2020. “We go to Capitol Hill and meet with congressmen,” said Henderson. “We talk to them about legislative priorities that affect breast cancer.”

Henderson was proud to announce their mission statement: “Educate, advocate, eradicate.”

The group is lead by two committed young ladies, Britta Schrock and Aubree Parmerlee. Henderson said, “they pretty much single-handedly, independently did the prep work. They are two peas in a pod.”

Parmerlee explained that pre-registration prices ranged from $15-$25 for Western students, and $20-$25 for off-campus participants, depending on whether or not they bought shirts as well as paying the general fee for the race. If someone wanted to sign up on the day of the race, they paid $25-$30. Participants could choose between a 5K run or walk, so that no matter your abilities, you could join.

The event was advertised all over campus on posters and flyers, as well as on oregonlive.com and other various advertising agents.

Parmerlee was very proud of the turnout, and wanted everyone to know how thankful she was for the success of the event. “Put a big thank you out there,” she exclaimed, “that we appreciate everyone so much.”

The race began at 10 a.m. and finished a little after 11 a.m., when raffles were presented to winners throughout the crowd. Before the runners took off, the race was dedicated to Tina Palmer, who is part of Western’s faculty and is a breast cancer survivor herself.

She gave a speech to the eager participants, explaining that she ran the race last year with her daughter-in-law, and gave advice for all women: “Do your yearly checkups, yearly mammograms, find it early.” She finished with, “It is curable if it is found early enough.” Once presented with flowers, Palmer blew the horn, and the participants raced away.