Race for the Cure canceled in Tucson

Citing declining return on investment, the director of Susan G. Komen Arizona said the nonprofit will discontinue Tucson’s Race for the Cure event to focus on more innovative forms of fundraising.

That means the race planned for March 2017 has been canceled, Christina Mencuccini, executive director of the Komen foundation’s Arizona affiliate, said Wednesday. The charity raises money for breast cancer research and community outreach.

“We received overwhelming support from the community of Tucson,” Mencuccini said. “This was a very difficult decision.”

Nationally, participation in 5K fundraising races is down by about 8 percent, and attendance at Tucson’s Race for the Cure was down significantly more than that, she said. Susan G. Komen foundation affiliates are required to hold at least one Race for the Cure in their states, and the Phoenix event generates higher attendance and greater returns compared with Tucson’s, Mencuccini said.

“It’s such a competitive market for 5K races,” she said. “It’s very labor-intensive for everybody involved. We’re looking at innovative ways of connecting more intimately with our communities throughout the state.”

In Phoenix, Race For the Cure drew 7,500 attendees and raised $750,000 in October, The Arizona Republic reported. That’s compared with 2,200 participants and $250,000 raised in Tucson at the March event, a Komen news release said.

The University of Arizona Cancer Center receives some funding through Komen, but the loss of the local race won’t be a significant financial hit, said Joyce Schroeder, director of the breast cancer research initiative at the UA Cancer Center. The more significant impact for the community is the loss of a popular “life-affirming” event, which attracts thousands of Tucsonans every year, including survivors and those who have lost someone to breast cancer, she said.

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The race is an opportunity “to come together in a hopeful, constructive way, where you’re trying to raise money to combat this disease,” she said. “These things help us come together as a community in a positive, life-affirming way.”

Race for the Cure has been held in Tucson since 1998. The nonprofit will soon announce another fundraiser planned in Tucson for early next year and will continue to take part in other events, such as El Tour de Tucson, Mencuccini said.

Mencuccini has led the Susan G. Komen affiliate for six weeks and said the decision on Tucson’s Race for the Cure was supported by race volunteers, board members and the staff. The move comes on the heels of last year’s merger between the Northern and Southern Arizona Komen affiliates, she said.

Proceeds from Race for the Cure go to the Arizona affiliate’s general fund, of which 75 percent is distributed locally in Arizona, Mencuccini said.

Race participants who had already registered have been contacted, and most decided to donate their registration fee to the cause, she said.

In 2012, the Dallas-based Susan G. Komen foundation experienced backlash after it stopped giving grants to Planned Parenthood for breast screenings, which many attributed to pressure from abortion opponents. The foundation soon decided to restore the funding.