Vol. 31, No. 2, #7. Running the Race of Her Life.

• Author: Author: Mary Angell

Wyoming Bar Journal

2008.

Vol. 31, No. 2, #7.

Running the Race of Her Life

Wyoming Bar Journal Issue: April, 2008 Author: Mary Angell Running the Race of Her Life

Trish Becklinger asked for breast cancer. She remembers when her sister was diagnosed with it in 2002. "I took it very hard," she told the Wyoming Lawyer. "One night I was home by myself and I said, 'Why are you doing this, God? She has a family and grandchildren on the way. Why not me? I don't have a family.'"

It's the ultimate illustration of why you should be careful about what you ask for.

"They were wrong about the cancer," Trish said about her sister. "She was so fortunate. The doctor said, "Whatever was there is not there now. Go home.' The following year, it was me."

Trish works for the Wyoming State Bar. She is a Program Assistant for the Board of Professional Responsibility. She is also a breast cancer survivor and the Chairperson of this year's Komen Wyoming Race for the Cure(t) in Cheyenne, scheduled for August 9, 2008.

Approximately 300 volunteers throughout the year and 15 committees help make the race happen, but Trish's work started in November, and she works on organizing the race every night after work.

"I work, then go home and work on the computer until 9:30, then get up at 5:30 in the morning and wonder why I'm tired," she said.

Oddly enough, Trish did not become involved with the Race for the Cure after she was diagnosed and treated for cancer. She has been involved for 12 years, almost as long as the Race has been run in Cheyenne.

"I didn't know anybody who had breast cancer at the time I got involved. I just thought, 'This is something I really want to get involved with,'" she said. "You think, 'This could happen to you.'"

This is the 13th year of the Race for the Cure in Cheyenne. Last year, almost 2,200 people attended, and the event raised $228,600.

"We're considered very small compared to a lot of the races throughout the United States," she said.

Denver, Colorado, boasts the largest Race for the Cure in the United States, with an average of 63,000 participants. Trish walks in the Denver race, as well as the one in Aspen, Colorado.

"I look back now and I think, 'Gosh, you know, it doesn't seem like it has been four years (since she was declared cancer-free); it seems like yesterday,'" she said. "I've stayed so involved with the Race for the Cure."

Trish...