Pink sneakers and matching T-shirts covered the pavement outside Lenox Square on Saturday morning as roughly 3,000 runners and walkers converged on Buckhead for one of Atlanta’s longest-running charity traditions. The crowd came out for the Susan G. Komen Greater Atlanta Race for the Cure, an event now in its 44th year of raising money and awareness for breast cancer patients across the region.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the runners and walkers gathered specifically at Lenox Square to raise breast cancer awareness. The race is one of Atlanta’s oldest 5K charity events. Komen’s own event page listed 3,261 registered participants at the time it was checked, a count that tracks sign-ups rather than the day-of turnout FOX 5 observed. The race was held at Lenox Square in Buckhead, with Atlanta News First reporting that Saturday, Oct. 17 marked the 44th year of the Atlanta tradition.
The morning’s schedule offered something for nearly every fitness level. The family-friendly lineup included a 5K, a one-mile route, a timed run, a fun run and a walk, giving families, survivors and casual supporters multiple ways to take part, per the same report. Komen’s event listing also detailed a Hope Village celebration starting at 7 a.m., along with a survivor parade built into the morning’s programming for people living with breast cancer, including those with metastatic disease.
A Survivor Leads the Pack From Hooters
Among the thousands lacing up was Alecia Robinson, a breast cancer survivor who turned her diagnosis into a rallying point for her coworkers. Robinson was diagnosed in 2022 with stage 1 triple-positive, HER2-positive breast cancer, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her treatment included a double mastectomy, six rounds of chemotherapy and a year of medical infusions, the newspaper reported.
After finishing treatment in 2023, Robinson formed her own team, Hooters’ Hope, Atlanta News First noted in its preview of the race. By race day, that 14-person squad had raised about $13,700, topping the event’s team leaderboard, the Journal-Constitution reported. The newspaper’s broader coverage featured other Atlanta-area participants describing how their own breast cancer experiences pushed them to show up and support others facing the disease.
Where the Money Goes
Organizers set an ambitious target for this year’s race: Komen aimed to raise $815,000 through the Greater Atlanta event, the nonprofit said. Funds raised through the race help support breast cancer research and patient services, including financial assistance, Atlanta News First reported. A statement distributed via Business Wire framed the proceeds as supporting patient care, groundbreaking research, essential education and advocacy efforts.
The stakes behind the fundraising push are significant for Georgia. Komen estimates that 10,440 people in the state will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2026, and 1,430 will lose their lives to the disease. During the current fiscal year, the organization’s Georgia Patient Care Center provided 1,023 patient navigation services to 672 individuals across the state, according to Komen’s announcement.
Decades of Research Dollars
Saturday’s gathering, Komen said, was meant to bring together survivors, those living with metastatic breast cancer, families and supporters under one roof — or in this case, one stretch of Buckhead pavement — for a morning built around solidarity as much as miles logged.
