Hope Scarves founder’s fight against cancer inspires others to help outrun the disease
What started as a neat idea involving a scarf and a cancer story has turned into over 400 runners raising nearly $300,000 over the past five years to find a cure and a little hope.
Lara MacGregor, with help from some of her biggest supporters, is working to outrun cancer as part of the biggest team to race in the 2019 Kentucky Derby Festival mini marathon.
"People might be a little confused when they see me and think, 'I thought she had cancer. Why is she out running?' or, 'She looks healthy.' The reality of metastatic breast cancer is that it's a marathon, not a sprint," MacGregor said.
She knows that all too well—MacGregor was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 when she was pregnant with her second child.
Someone had given her a scarf during her first bout with cancer and, in 2014, when the cancer spread to her bones, she looked to the accessory for inspiration.
"Living scan to scan and living with this unknown reality of when the cancer will progress is really hard," MacGregor said.
That uncertainty turned this kind gesture into a nonprofit called Hope Scarves, which connects MacGregor to other women like her from around the world.
"That's really what Hope Scarves represents—this colorful, joyful connection to someone else who has faced cancer," MacGregor said. "We don't pretend that it's easy or that it's pink and pretty, but in the midst of darkness, we bring the light in."
Hope Scarves is still accepting donations ahead of this weekend's race.
Its goal is $55,000, and the organization is just $13,000 short.
Click here if you'd like to donate.