Burlington Survivor Leads Run for the Cure Team on October 4

Lauren McDermott was a week from her 22nd birthday and packing to head back to Queen's University when she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in August 2024. She had found the lump herself two months earlier, and everyone involved expected it to turn out benign.

What followed was eight rounds of chemotherapy, 15 rounds of radiation and a double mastectomy the following February. She remains on hormone medication, and was told to expect five to seven years of it.

Her family and friends put a team together almost immediately. Lace Up For Lo signed up for the CIBC Run for the Cure taking place just weeks after her diagnosis, and 20 people ran in her name. She spoke at the event in the middle of chemotherapy, having shaved her head the night before. Two years on she is cancer free, and the team has tripled in size.

This year's run comes to Central Park on Sunday, October 4, and organizers expect as many as 2,300 people. Participants pick a one kilometre or five kilometre route, and walking it counts the same as running it. Maddy Sandwell, a fellow survivor who is directing the run for the first time this year, said the combined Burlington, Hamilton and Oakville site raised just under $520,000 in 2022 and has grown every year since. The target this year is $590,000.