Saturday June 14, 2008

"It was a shock to be diagnosed and I had a goal immediately to be well enough the following year to train and run again."

Janet Herman's not alone.

She and almost 1,000 other women hit the track Saturday morning at UVa to begin training for a race that doesn't even take place until Labor Day weekend.

With this year's Women's Four Miler, organizers say they had to do a few things differently.

"The program costs $15 for the entire summer, so we want to reach as many women as we can," race director Joan Esposito says. "With the cost of gas this year, we've started weekly running programs in Madison, Greene and Fluvanna."

Esposito adds last year's Four Miler raised about $250,000 for UVa's Breast Care Program and, while that's an impressive total, she says this time around they're looking to bring in about $300,000.

"These ladies here today are looking to that goal," she declares. "That's their celebration and that's what they're training for."

For the many survivors like Janet Herman who take part in this race each year, they say the Women's Four Miler can be a huge help in the battle with breast cancer.

"My daughter ran with me for the first time and it was the most powerful event in my life," Herman says, "to be affirmed in being alive and being able to control my life to some degree."

To find out more about the race and how you can get involved, go to http://www.dominiondigital.com/womens4miler/.