My grandmother and both her sisters passed away from breast cancer. Needless to say, this is an issue that really hits home with me -- as well as the 10,000 pink-adorned runners and walkers who will flood the streets of Milwaukee on Sunday to help find a cure for breast cancer.

The ninth annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure begins at 9 a.m. at Northwestern Mutual's campus and ends at Veteran's Park on Milwaukee's lakefront.

The Race includes several options, including a 5K wheelchair race, a 5K run, a 5K walk, and a 1-mile walk. Following the Race, participants and their family and friends will enjoy the "Pink in the Park" Expo, the post-race celebration at Veteran's Park. The Expo will feature award presentations and volunteer and survivor recognition, refreshments by local and national sponsors, shopping at the Pink Ribbon Shop, live music by First Kiss, a Survivor Oasis where survivors can enjoy complimentary spa treatments, GE's Women's Health and Wellness Tour, and Suzy's Garden, where supporters can write personal messages on pink ribbons, helping the garden to grow larger each year.

The Race for the Cure is Komen Milwaukee's signature awareness raising and fundraising event for the year, and in 2006, the Race raised over $700,000. Up to 75 percent of the money stays in Southeastern Wisconsin to fund local breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment programs.