The 2019 Phoenix Undy RunWalk kicked off Saturday at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the Arizona State Capitol.
Hosted by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the Undy RunWalk has events across the United States every year to raise money and awareness for colon cancer research.
Local CBS 5 news anchor Sean McLaughlin moderated the event and said in his opening remarks that his brother-in-law had been affected by colon cancer.
McLaughlin said the RunWalk is meant to unite everyone who had been affected by colon cancer and let them know they are not alone in their fight.
“We are a nation of allies. Whether you are a survivor, whether you are a family member, or whether you are a caregiver, we are all in this fight together,” he said.
Participant Nikki Moore said she was running in the event to honor her late husband, Matt, who died of colon cancer in 2017.
Moore said the way she and her husband lived their lives changed drastically when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
“The past is over, the future isn’t promised, and today is the only day that we have, so living in the present became huge to us,” she said. “We realized that cancer could take us and swallow us whole if we become a victim to it, or we could decide to take every day as a gift and live our life to the fullest.”
She said that when her husband died, she became a single mother of a baby boy. She decided it was her duty to carry on her husband’s legacy by telling his story.
“For me, I do not want any more children to grow up without parents because of this disease,” she said.
Britt Ochoa is a current colon cancer patient who thanked her family and friends for supporting her at the RunWalk. She was diagnosed six years ago and has undergone 160 rounds of chemotherapy, as well as multiple surgeries and radiation.
“Looking back, there were several symptoms that I so ignorantly ignored for a very long time because I was 27, and it didn’t even cross my mind that colon cancer was a possibility,” Ochoa said.
She said being diagnosed with cancer at such a young age was shocking and unexpected.
“My husband and I were at the beginning stages of starting a family, but cancer had other plans,” she said.
She discovered the Phoenix Undy RunWalk in an informational radio ad when she was about four months along in her fight against cancer.
“I had no idea what to expect and to my surprise, I felt even though it’s a terrible reason for everyone to have to get together, I found my community,” she said. “There were other people out there that were going through what I went through.”
The RunWalk also draws a number of volunteers who participate by assisting runners and making sure the event goes smoothly.
Volunteer Christina Yepello said this is her first year volunteering for the RunWalk.
“I’ve had family members who have had colon cancer and passed away, so I want to be supportive,” Yepello said.
Contact the reporter at erfontan@asu.edu.
