Survivors increase

Carol Smith of Rancho Santa Margarita participated in the 2006 Komen Orange County Race for the Cure in a wheelchair, pushed by her close friend Vicky Cook. Diagnosed with stage III breast cancer, Smith was undergoing chemotherapy at the time of the race last year and had no hair.

Smith had to undergo a double mastectomy she said could have been avoided had her cancer been detected earlier.

This year, Smith, wearing a baseball hat over her growing hair that reads “Chemo Diva,” said she is proud to call herself a one-year survivor. She and Cook, friends for the past 20 years, walked side-by-side in the 2007 Race for the Cure at Sunday Fashion Island Sunday.

“It makes me realize how far I had to come to get here,” Smith said. “I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. There’s a lot of pain. It feels like a great accomplishment.”

Smith and Cook are two of more than 35,000 from across the region who participated in Sunday’s race to raise money for breast cancer education, medical care and research.

Although dollar amounts were still being tallied Sunday evening, the event is on track to raise a record $3 million this year, organizers said. The event has already raised more than $15 million since its inception in 1992.

“We’ve had more survivors participate this year, and while the number of participants stays about the same, we keep raising more money every year, which is the important thing,” said Carla Cammack of Fountain Valley, chairwoman for this year’s race.

Cammack said the most rewarding aspect of the event for her is seeing the survivors at the race. Cammack herself celebrated 10 years as a survivor in July.

About 2,000 of race participants Sunday were breast cancer survivors.

The annual race included about 50 new teams this year.

Team Tough Titties, a group of women in their 20s said they were trying to raise breast cancer awareness among young women with the slogan “Save second base.” The group had the second-highest amount of donations in Orange County in 2006, raising about $27,000 last year. The team will try to meet the same goal again this year with a fundraiser at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa Oct. 11.

“Four women in my immediate family are breast cancer survivors,” said Team Tough Titties member Ashleigh Klein of Long Beach. Her mother and three of her aunts have survived the disease. “It’s inspired me to be involved. I do it for them.”

BRIANNA BAILEY can be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.