Breast cancer survivors, their families and friends showed up on Ocean City's boardwalk just after sunrise ready to race despite cool temperatures and rain. They wore everything pink, from sneakers to bandannas and wigs.
Planned Parenthood wasn't on any of their minds. And race organizers never mentioned the incident during race festivities.Susan Singh of Berlin said educating women about breast cancer was too important not to support Komen.
She had no symptoms when she was diagnosed with the disease in 2009. She says a mammogram helped save her life. Nine surgeries later, she is now among breast cancer survivors.
As she raised money for this year's race, Singh said some people wouldn't give because of the Planned Parenthood flap.
"I think it is a shame," she said. "I think it is important to educate women about screening because it saves lives."
Some affiliates of the cancer-fighting organization â€" including those in Central Indiana, Southwest Florida and Southwestern Arizona â€" have been dealing with declines in fundraising and participation. But in Ocean City, the number of registrants was higher than race organizers from Komen Maryland anticipated, leaving the group hopeful about future fundraising
Donations for the Ocean City race have also already surpassed the goal of $240,000, and fundraising will continue for the next couple of months.
Still, the Ocean City race is also much smaller than typical Race for the Cure events, which are usually local affiliates' largest fundraisers. It is unclear if the race held every October in Hunt Valley will also have similar results because registration and fundraising has yet to start. That race attracted around 32,000 people last year.
"We are thrilled with the support that we've seen," said Brittany Fowler, communications and development coordinator for Komen Maryland. "The fact that we've exceeded our goal is great."
Many local affiliates of Komen are still reeling from a controversial decision by the national headquarters in January to pull funding from Planned Parenthood because it offers abortions among its services.
The backlash from the decision pushed Komen to reverse course days later as it faced criticism for letting politics infiltrate the organization.
The woman at the center of the controversy, Maryland native Karen Walker Handel, resigned a short time later. The former Republican secretary of state in Georgia had called for Planned Parenthood to be defunded while seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2010 and was said to have pushed for the funding ban at Komen as well.
A spokeswoman for Komen National said the Planned Parenthood incident has had varying degrees of impact on local affiliates. While attendance and fundraising is down in some cities, others have exceeded their expectations, said spokeswoman Andrea Rader.
"We know that some people may be upset with us but hope they know that we've been serving women for 30 years and this help is still very much needed, especially for low-income, uninsured and underinsured women," Rader said.
Komen participants Sunday stuck by their cause.
Sharon Sweet, 61, from Hampstead, was walking her first Komen race Sunday to support a friend who is a 10-year survivor.
"No matter who you are, you know someone who has been affected by cancer," she said. "That is why we need Komen."
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