I was one of the people who started Run for the Cure in Canada when I worked for CIBC as SVP Marketing. I now regret this. Now I believe the idea of striving for the "Cure" is wrong. What we need to do is to find out WHY WE GET CANCER. When my wife was diagnosed almost 10 years ago this question was never asked, it was all about getting straight to treatment.
Running for the Cure has become a massive BUSINESS. Treatment is a massive BUSINESS. The people involved do very well from our cancer. They hold out the CURE, but say nothing about prevention. Worse are that many are involved in products that are directly linked to you getting cancer.
I don't believe that Breast Cancer is a lottery, nor that we are condemned by our genes. It is a product of how we live. We can do a lot to reduce our risk.
Here is what my wife wrote a while back. She finds the idea of being a "survivor" inappropriate for her and she finds the lack of discussion about prevention, the failure to decrease the numbers of new breast cancer diagnoses and the lack of publicity about alternatives, very disheartening.