Thousands participate in Susan G. Komen Race

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As they raced away from Chukchansi Park, each of these runners carried a personal story down the street with them.

Diana Kaye Pasillas beat breast cancer 14 years ago, but she knows the fight is not over.

"I have four grandgirls and it's really important to me that we do find the cause of breast cancer and hopefully find a cure so they don't have to endure what I went through," said Breast Cancer Survivor Diana Kaye.

For Gina Mata, it is a chance to attack the roads and attack the disease that took her mother on its second round.

"In 98' she battled it and then in 2007 it came back and so in honor, we're walking for her and running for her," said Gina Mata.

The Susan G Komen Race for the Cure gives hundreds of runners and walkers the power of pink.

And even as the miles add up and the view seems to be uphill, women struggling to survive can see and feel the support.

"I'm out here walking. I'm a breast cancer survivor," said Kathy Coyle.

For Woods Elementary school teacher Kathy Coyle, it's a celebration of winning the battle earlier this year, and a tribute to her fellow teachers.

Some of them walked through downtown with Team Kathy, but a couple just got breast cancer diagnoses of their own.

The Race for the Cure raised more than $200 million for scientific research last year and Coyle says her own treatment taught her to love the men and women in lab coats.

"I had triple positive and it was only a few years ago they came up with a reception that targets my particular cancer that went in and shut down the cells and led to my current prognosis of being cancer free," said Coyle.

And so the race is on to help the quarter million American women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer every year safely reach their own finish lines.