Motherwalk 5K to celebrate 20 years of helping women fight ovarian cancer

The Motherwalk 5K and 1-mile fun run will commemorate 20 years of helping women with ovarian cancer. For two decades, the annual event, benefiting the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation, has raised awareness and millions of dollars toward the fight against a disease that affects 21,000 American women each year. 

“This will be our 20th anniversary year, so we’re really excited about it,” said Ashley Thompson, executive director of the Norma Livingston Ovarian Cancer Foundation.

“Ovarian cancer is often called ‘the silent cancer’ because by the time you have symptoms of ovarian cancer, chances are it’s already in stage 3 or stage 4,” Thompson said. “So, the purpose of Motherwalk was to get out and inform mothers, daughters, sisters and friends about those silent symptoms.”

“Motherwalk has gotten so big over the last several years that we have been able to fund research and our Just A Need program with the proceeds from this race,” she said. 

Much of the proceeds from the race and from the Drive Out Ovarian Cancer car tag are dedicated to ongoing research into the disease. 

“During this race, we also present a check to UAB for their research award for the year,” Thompson said. “We are very closely aligned with UAB and Dr. [Trey] Leith and Dr. [Warner] Huh and all the researchers there to help fund some cutting-edge work that’s going on there.”

Starting at Homewood Central Park on Oxmoor Road, the 2023 Motherwalk will include the traditional 5K race and a 1-mile fun run but will also feature some new events such as the Virtual 5K, allowing supporters to participate in the race from home. 

Additionally, the event will feature a dove release and The Memory Mile, a stretch of Homewood Central Park lined with images of women who have battled ovarian cancer or in-memoriam photos of those who succumbed to the disease. 

“It’s very moving and just serves as a reminder of all the women that this horrible disease has impacted,” Thompson said.

The Motherwalk is child-friendly and pet-friendly and gets underway at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 13. Register online at cureovariancancer.org/events/motherwalk.