A sea of women dressed in pink flooded the University of Alaska Anchorage campus early Saturday morning to participate in this year’s Alaska Run For Women. The rainy conditions didn’t stop the throng of women, several of whom were decked out in pink tutus, fairy wings, glitter and tiaras. The atmosphere was electric with excitement and pride as music played, and it was a full-on dance party in the rain.
“Even though it’s raining, the vibes are still really high,” said Karen Jenkins, a multiple-time participant and a survivor of breast cancer, while decked out in a pink light-up tutu.
About 5,300 women were registered for this year’s race, making it one of the largest in the program’s 33-year lifetime.
Kimberly Olmsted, one of this year’s honorary race starters, announced the start of both the 1-mile and 5-mile races.
“I have two challenges for you today: Have fun and bring the sun,” Olmsted said as she sent off the 5-mile timed wave of runners.
The second honorary race starter, Mackenzie Carpenter, participated in the race for a second straight year.
In late 2022, while pregnant with her daughter, Carpenter noticed a lump in her breast. She was concerned, but since she was pregnant, Carpenter could not get a mammogram.
As the months went by, she received an ultrasound to assess the lump but it “showed nothing suspicious,” she said. Worries persisted for Carpenter, a family medicine physician. Months went by and she went to multiple professionals, who all reassured her the lump was “nothing to worry about,” she said.
After giving birth, Carpenter went to a lactation specialist who agreed with her suspicion: This lump was concerning. Carpenter received a mammogram, and a biopsy in June 2023 found cancer.
“I knew that those findings weren’t great … then I got the diagnosis,” Carpenter said.
“I heard the words you don’t want to hear and I knew what they meant.”
The next half of the year was a roller coaster for Carpenter. After receiving her diagnosis, she started chemotherapy. In the fall, an unrelated MRI showed that she had a cancerous brain tumor. In November 2023, Carpenter received brain radiation. A month later, she had a mastectomy. In January 2024, Carpenter found out that she had stage four cancer and continued to receive brain radiation.
Just four months after receiving radiation and having her mastectomy, Carpenter completed the 2024 Lavaman Triathlon in Hawaii with her husband.
“I decided to do it at the end of January. A lot of that was because my husband, he’s really into races like that,” said Carpenter. “I thought it would be a good mood booster for him, because at this point, it had been going on for about nine months.”
Reflecting upon her triathlon experience, she said “the swim was really cool, just being in open water, I saw a turtle doing it, so that was unique.” She added: “I’m glad I was able to do it, because I wasn’t sure, my range of motion on my right side was limited after the mastectomy.”
Carpenter had surgery in January 2025 to remove her brain tumors and wasn’t able to do this year’s Lavaman. However, her daughter was able to do the Lavakids run, which she still talks about, according to Carpenter. Her daughter is now 2 1/2 years old.
“She’s a little ray of sunshine amidst all of the turmoil,” said Carpenter.
“Something joyful in your life … that helps immensely as well,” she said.
For those going through breast cancer treatment, Carpenter recommended going for a walk every day and staying as active as possible.
She said knowing your limits is important and so is keeping a positive attitude, although she admits each patient has a different experience with chemotherapy. Her support network helped her through the process.
“Support is one of the bigger things that has gotten me through all of this … my husband’s been amazing. He’s gone above and beyond and stood by my side throughout this whole diagnosis,” Carpenter said. She described how her husband helped take care of their daughter, sometimes having to be like a single parent, especially as she was recovering after brain surgery.
Pets, family and friends were another pillar of support for Carpenter as she went through her diagnosis and recovery. She said the first month after diagnosis was “the worst, because it feels like your whole world is just shattering, but things somehow get better after that.”
The Alaska Run For Women’s mission is to raise funds and raise awareness of breast cancer and women’s health. Through donations, it has raised over $5.7 million, which helps support grant funding for research projects, mammograms and more.
One of the Alaska Run For Women’s multiyear grant recipients, Casting for Recovery, hosts free fly fishing retreats for breast cancer survivors. The Alaska Casting for Recovery program has two retreats: one for Alaska women and one specifically for Alaska Native women.
“When you have a community where you are all going down the same pathway, and you’ve all dealt with the same things, you get real lonely and you want that camaraderie,” said Carol Butler, who participated in a 2023 Casting for Recovery retreat. “There’s just that element of connection and intimacy because you are all going through the same thing.”
Butler, a two-time survivor of breast cancer, walked the 1-mile event with a few of her 22 teammates, all called the Breast Friends Forever.
Carpenter said despite the support from events like the Alaska Run For Women, there’s always work to do to raise awareness. Over the past five to 10 years, there’s been a rise in breast cancer especially for people younger than 40, she said.
“That’s been alarming, and they don’t really know why,” said Carpenter.
Top results - 5 mile timed
1. Anna Dalton, 27:16; 2. Taylor Deal, 27:42; 3. Abby Stemper, 29:21; 4. Kianna Wika, 29:51; 5. Mariah Graham, 30:05; 6. Mandy Vincent-Lang, 30:24; 7. Whitney Bennett Bouchard, 30:28; 8. Kala Maus, 31:29; 9. Kaelan Dickinson, 31:31; 10. Sam Longacre, 31:47.
