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Race For The Cure To Be Run In Hartford

By ROSELYN TANTRAPHOL
Courant Staff Writer

January 21 2004

The state's high-profile Race for the Cure, a breast cancer fund-raiser that for a decade was held in New Britain and affiliated with the national Susan B. Komen Foundation, will be held this summer in Hartford, city officials will announce today.

Late last year it appeared that the Connecticut Race for the Cure would take a one-year hiatus following a split between some leaders of the local affiliate and the Komen Foundation over how much of the proceeds should be spent in-state.

It was expected at the time that the Komen Foundation-affiliated race would return to Connecticut in 2005. The founder of the New Britain race organized a new group that would ensure a race still takes place this year there, despite the organizational restructuring.

The Race for the Cure now is scheduled June 12 in Hartford. That means that a breast cancer fund-raiser organized by the new Connecticut Breast Health Initiative will be May 8 in New Britain."It could bring as many as 15,000 folks into the city, and that's always a positive thing to have that many people out on the streets of Hartford on a weekend," said Matt Hennessy, chief of staff for Mayor Eddie A. Perez.

Joyce Bray, who founded the state's Race for the Cure a decade ago, said Tuesday that the Connecticut Breast Health Initiative - the new entity that brings several state groups together to sponsor the May race - has no plans to change course given the announcement.

"Those who wish to continue to support national research, that's great," she said, referring to the race affiliated with the Komen Foundation. "We really want to focus on Connecticut."

Bray said that while the enthusiasm and funding are out there, she does have concerns about "duplicative fund-raisers."

"We're a small state and need to be a little bit wise about how we fund-raise," she said.

Mary Coursey, who will be chairwoman for the 11th annual Race for the Cure, declined to comment Tuesday night, except to confirm that it is on.

She said questions would be answered this afternoon during the official announcement at Hartford City Hall, which will include Perez, state comptroller Nancy Wyman and breast cancer survivors.

In its first year in the state, Race for the Cure raised about $125,000, with the Komen foundation receiving 25 percent of proceeds.

"Now we make $950,000. There's a big difference in the amount of money that goes out," Bray said. "We are ranked 11th in the nation for mortality rates, so it's serious that we do good stuff here."

"We started this for all the right reasons," said Bray, whose mother survived breast cancer until 1992, "and we're continuing it for all the right reasons. I feel badly if some people think there's competition for this stuff."

Hennessy said Hartford officials were approached about a week ago by members of the executive committee of the Komen Foundation's state group, asking if the city would be interested in becoming the sponsoring venue.

"We laid out the challenges in Hartford," Hennessy said. "We had a lot of events going on and we're probably not going to completely waive fees."

But the upshot of the message from Perez, he said, was that the city wanted to work with the group to make this happen.

In the past the city has offered a 50-percent discount in fees for nonprofits holding events such as this one; details for aid given in this Race for the Cure have yet to be worked out with the city council, Hennessy said.

Copyright 2004, Hartford Courant