We Tell Your Story
Part of Runway's mission is to honor the legacies and stories of those who have been impacted by breast cancer. Our blog page is dedicated to helping us share those stories.
Learn more about the importance and impact of our blog by watching the following video.
Today, 17 years after being diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, Anne Reis is in total remission and no longer taking medication.
Anne returns for Runway’s 20th Anniversary Show with deep gratitude, joy, and purpose: walking for herself, her children, her grandchildren, and especially her late twin sister, Molly.
For Anne, this year is a celebration of life, survivorship, family, and the sister whose spirit is always with her.
Kathryn Phillips and her daughter, Savannah “Savy,” have grown up with Runway across nearly every chapter of its history.
Kathryn first walked the Runway in 2007 in honor of her mother, Susan, who passed away from metastatic breast cancer.
Three years later, Kathryn returned to the stage while navigating breast cancer herself, this time with young Savy beside her.
They have been dancing on the Runway stage ever since!
“Once you’re in, you’re in for life,” Savy says.
Amy Burke has always wanted to prove to herself that she could run a marathon.
This year, she did exactly that as part of Runway for Recovery’s first Boston Marathon team.
At the time, Amy was still in maintenance treatment, receiving a monthly shot and seeing her oncologist every month. But when Runway received marathon bibs, Amy knew it was her sign.
“If I’m going to run it for someone, I’m going to run it for Runway,” Amy says.
Angela LaFave first understood breast cancer through her father.
In 2015, her dad was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease most people still rarely associate with men. He had a mastectomy and made it through that chapter. Years later, in 2020, Angela stood beside him as leukemia took his last breath.
That same year, during the isolation of COVID, Angela was diagnosed with breast cancer herself.
This October, Angela steps onto the Runway stage carrying both stories: her father’s and her own.
Living with metastatic breast cancer, Deborah has had to navigate the mental exhaustion that comes with knowing treatment may never fully end.
Someone once told her something that has stayed with her:
“It takes more energy to worry about dying than it does to live.”
Deborah carries that with her.
“Spend your time living day to day instead of spending your time worrying about if you’re going to die,” she says.
This October, Deborah returns to the Runway stage ready to dance, celebrate, and spend her energy living.
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