One constant: 30,000 runners

It's easy to see why people are attracted to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K.

The race will be held for the 21st consecutive year Saturday in downtown Little Rock on Saturday. The start is scheduled for 7:30 a.m., but approximately 35 of the event's committee leaders will gather hours earlier, at 3 a.m., to go over their final strategies under the direction of executive director Sherry McBride and 2014 race chairman Ashley Hurst.

Hurst was in charge of the Friday night pasta parties from 2007-2012 and said her exposure to the race was limited. But she was there last year as the race co-chair and watched a field of 33,629 gather, mostly clad in pink.

"It was so intense and powerful and moving and emotional," Hurst said. "Women spend a lot of time in their lives competing with each other. We're kind of set up for that, but on that day, on race day, everyone, even strangers, are supporting one another. Everything else falls away.

"Breast cancer affects everyone, but there's just something powerful about so many women being there to support each other."

Hurst recalled that when volunteer committee members, leaders and the half-dozen or so local Komen employees began to arrive at the pre-dawn meeting before last year's race, the meeting area was quiet at first.

"Then we have coffee, and breakfast, and the excitement starts to build," she said. "You start to think, 'This is it. It's race day.' "

Jessie Gillham, Little Rock's Komen special events director, said she expects a field of about 30,000 runners and walkers for Saturday's race, which will feature a new course.

The race for each of the previous 20 runnings began on Broadway, two blocks south of the Broadway Bridge, and crossed the bridge less than a quarter of a mile from the start. Race officials adjusted the course this year to cross the Arkansas River on Main Street because they thought work on the aging Broadway Bridge would begin before Saturday but it has not.

"We'll have this course for at least two years," Gillham said. "It will depend on when they finish the new Broadway Bridge."

Saturday's race will begin on East 5th Street and won't cross the Arkansas River until well past the midpoint.

Hurst said her year as race chairman has included many changes beyond the design of the course, including tonight's pasta party location and the theme and location of the luncheon for breast cancer survivors.

She admitted that the changes have made her a little anxious, noting how committee members identify previous races not by year but by the names of the Race for the Cure chairmen for any particular race.

"We'll say 'that was Ann Brown's year,' or 'that was Erin Dean's year,' " Hurst said, laughing. "I'm a little worried that if everything goes to hell everyone will remember that was Ashley's year."

McBride said all of the volunteer leaders have filled their roles well, including Hurst.

"You have to have an incredibly organized individual, because there are so many committees they have to coordinate," McBride said. "Our staff fill in the gaps where they need the gaps filled in. It's always interesting to see because there is some stress involved with this.

"You learn a lot about people, and I have loved each and every one of them."

Sports on 10/03/2014