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Tim Rakoczy's Story

Tim Rakoczy's Story

I participate in the Race for the Cure® because my mom, Jackie, passed away from breast cancer in 1996 when I was 11 years old.  My participation began on Mother’s Day 1996 at my first Race for the Cure in my hometown, Pittsburgh, after my mom died.  I continued to participate in and volunteer for the Pittsburgh race until I left Pittsburgh to attend TCU in 2002.  At TCU, I wanted to continue my participation and walked in my first Dallas walk in 2002 and Fort Worth in 2003.  In the spring of 2004, I realized that I wanted to do more, so I contacted the Tarrant County affiliate about volunteering.  I was assigned to help with race set-up and was told to be downtown at 4:00 AM on race morning.  I was quickly made a part of the Tarrant County affiliate family, and over my remaining years at TCU I continued to volunteer and perform odd jobs for the affiliate, such as learning what a die-cut was and making what seemed to be thousands of pink ribbons for the Stock Show. 

After I graduated from TCU, I moved to Columbus, Ohio for law school, but returned to Fort Worth after graduation.  Over the past 15 years, I have walked in approximately 20 Race for the Cures in Fort Worth, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Columbus.  I have also participated in 3 Breast Cancer 3-Day events in Boston, Chicago, and Michigan. I continue to participate in Komen events because they are therapeutic, and I will continue to walk and give my time to Komen so long as it is necessary. 

The Greater Fort Worth affiliate made me feel at home while I attended TCU, and also when I returned to Fort Worth after law school.  In particular, Betty Nethery, Jennifer Wersal, and Ann Greenhill took me in as one of their own, and allowed me to help in ways that I could as a college student, whether it was running errands in my spare time, unloading trucks on Race morning, or contributing my story to the first Frogs for the Cure event.  It is hard to describe, but it means so much to me that I was given the opportunity to use my skills and my story to help in the quest to find a cure for breast cancer. 

One of my favorite quotes was on a Race for the Cure flyer in Pittsburgh during one of my first years participating: “Someday we will have a cure . . . until then we will have a Race.”  I know that through the work of all of us, one day a cure will be found, and a child will never have to lose their mother to breast cancer again.  I am sure my mother would be proud of my work with Komen.

Pictured above: Tim and his sister at the Ford World Headquaters during a 3Day event.
Pictured to the right: Tim's mother, Jackie, at the 1986 Pittsburgh Race for the Cure.

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Join Tim today and get registered for our 20th Annual Race for the Cure on Saturday, April 14, 2012.