VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Thousands of people took part in events across the country today to mark the CIBC Run for the Cure.

People in Vancouver walked or ran the 5 or the 1 kilometre route, having fundraised in the months prior to event day, and raising more than $1.57 million.

At British Columbia’s eight sites, over 22,000 participants contributed to a regional fundraising total of $3.15 million. And across Canada, participants in 59 communities raised a total of over $30 million.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in Canadian women as one in nine are expected to develop it in their lifetime.

Survivor Nichole Myers is battling her second bout right now. She has taken part in the run for the last 13 years and looks forward to it every time.

“It’s more poignant to me this year because of my second journey with breast cancer to celebrate with other women and men, because it does affect men too, to see the outpouring of encouragement. People want to raise money to help end this, it’s just phenomenal,” Myers explains.

This past spring, researchers developed breakthroughs to tackle Triple Negative Breast Cancer, which is the deadliest form.

“So much has changed in the last 13 years. The breakthroughs are encouraging, knowing that you do the best you can with what you have but knowing that in the future there’s definitely going to be something that’s going to end it for good.”

This year, nearly 23,000 Canadian women will be diagnosed with the illness and just over 5,000 will die from it. Men make up just under one per cent of all cases.