Who amongst us has not asked themselves, "Have I done my bit for breasts?"

If you have asked yourself that very question lately and found that you have not supported breasts as you should, well have no fear, you can make amends.

Yep, it's that time of year again, time for me to rattle my tin cup at my three loyal readers in the hopes that they will sponsor me in the Jog for the Jugs in Montreal on Sept. 30. Oh, the purists call it the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Run for the Cure, but what do they know?

My thoughts, exactly.

If you donate, you get to add the justly coveted Bazonga Booster graphic to your web site:

AND

AND

as if that wasn't excitement enough, you'll be enshrined in the Bazonga Booster Hall of Fame." I know. I get as tingly thinking about it as you do. After all, it's not every day that you get the opportunity to link your name or web site into perpetuity with the word "bazonga".

One in ten women, and a lesser number of men, will be touched by this disease. I've already had one lump myself, fortunately benign, but I have no guarantees that my next mammogram will come out clean. Once you've stared down the barrel of that gun, even if you learn that in your case the gun wasn't loaded, it's never the same. The odds are just too freakin' high to ever truly relax.

Oh, I know, you're suspicious of charities. You've heard the stories of the charities where only ten cents of every dollar gets spent on actual good work and the rest gets chewed up in overhead. Fear not. Your hard earned buckazoids do not get spent on overhead with the Jog for the Jugs.

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation is a tightly run, highly respected charity with a huge volunteer base. The cost of the Jog for the Jugs is underwritten by a major Canadian bank and several other smaller corporate sponsors. The money you donate goes to breast cancer research and breast cancer outreach.

When I registered I checked the little box that said "Don't give me any participation prizes".

So what do I get out of this?

Well, many of my three loyal readers donate in the memory of someone who has either died or been touched by this illness. I have the honour of writing these names on my run shirt and I get to add these people to the memory wall at the beginning of the run. It is an extraordinary gift.

Actually doing the run itself is an amazing experience. Being in the middle of a crowd of 15 to 20,000 people all focused on an act of kindness � well, there's nothing quite like it.

It's so easy to get beaten down and depressed by what we see on our teevees, read in our newspapers. The world sometimes seems dark, violent and uncaring. For a few hours I'm reminded there are other realities, other sides to human nature. For a few hours the core of Montreal is shut down to cars and given over to people.

Bemused babies in strollers, people walking with dogs of all sizes, whole teams of people holding up a picture of a beloved co-worker, breast cancer survivors in their bright pink shirts � all ages, all races, everyone is there. Some to remember someone they've lost, some to honour a survivor, some like me hoping that we can spare the next generation the fear my generation feels.

Oh, and as an extra special bonus, I get to torture my daughter. Oh yes, I come into Montreal a few days early and crash at her apartment. Plus we do the Run for the Cure together. You can well imagine her horror.

So if you've got a few bucks to spare, I hope you'll consider sponsoring me in the Jog for the Jugs. Remember, not only do you get a graphic of startling garishness, you also get your name linked into perpetuity with the word "Bazongas" (and really, how do you put a price on that?)

If there's someone you want to honour, don't forget to let me know. I'll make sure they're on both my shirt and the wall of memories.

I am old enough to remember when polio and tuberculosis were common cripplers and killers. Today, they're a medical footnote. I hope to live long enough to see breast cancer become a medical footnote, too.

How cool would that be, eh?

--Marn

Mileage on the Marnometer: 343.09 miles