The Connection Keeping Laurel Kluge’s Memory Moving
Her husband, children and extended family gather with the community each year at the Burbank YMCA, where runners and walkers take on a 5K bearing her name. When participants cross the finish line, Laurel’s family is there to help hand out the awards.
But the clearest picture of what Laurel’s legacy has become may not be found on race day at all.
It happens throughout the year, inside the Burbank YMCA, among a group of women rebuilding their strength after breast cancer.
的 Laurel Kluge Ribbon Run 5K returns Sunday, October 4, for its 13th year, bringing the community together during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Proceeds from the race exclusively support the Burbank YMCA’s PINK Program, a weekly exercise class created specifically for women recovering from breast cancer.
For Burbank YMCA Executive Director John Feudo, what makes the race stand apart in a city where running events are plentiful is the people behind it.
He describes it as “the connective tissue of everyone involved.”
That connection goes from Laurel’s family to the runners and walkers who return each year, the YMCA staff who make the event happen and the women whose lives are touched by the program it supports.
Laurel Kluge was a wife, mother, sister and friend who was very involved in her community. After being diagnosed with breast cancer at 39, she continued to stay active and connected to the Burbank YMCA during her battle with the disease. She died in 2006 at the age of 49.
Years later, her name is still bringing people together.
Feudo thinks Laurel would be proud to know her memory is moving in a way that continues to help women with breast cancer.
That impact is especially clear in the PINK Program.
“For years, this weekly exercise class has provided a supportive, welcoming space exclusively for women recovering from breast cancer,” said Sydnie Lumb, who oversees the program.
The class focuses on meaningful movement, letting women work at their own pace as they get stronger, more flexible, more balanced and confident. But Lumb says the program is about more than physical recovery.
“Beyond exercise, it offers a sense of community, encouragement and connection among women who share a similar journey,” she said.
That community can become particularly important after treatment, when recovery does not always mean going back to the life someone had before cancer.
Women who have been in the PINK Program over the years have said they find not only trained instructors, but other women who understand what they are going through. The friendships formed there go beyond the class, with participants supporting one another through treatments, setbacks and the daily challenges of recovery.
Every class is connected back to one morning in October.
The proceeds made from the Laurel Kluge Ribbon Run are what make the PINK Program possible, allowing women to participate without cost becoming another barrier during recovery.
The connection extends beyond the YMCA. The Tufts Medicine Oncology Department will be at the race providing breast cancer information and resources to participants and the community.
The timing is significant. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a reminder of just how many families can find themselves facing the disease. One in eight women will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
For the Burbank YMCA, those numbers make the purpose behind the Ribbon Run even more important. But after 13 years, the event has also become deeply personal.
Some participants knew Laurel. Others never had the opportunity to meet her. Still, year after year, they come together around the legacy she left behind and the women who continue to benefit from it.
On October 4, those connections will come together again.
Runners and walkers will take on the 5K, Laurel’s family will once again be there to hand out awards, and another year of the PINK Program will be supported because of it.
The race lasts one morning. What it makes possible at the Burbank YMCA continues long after.
For Lumb, there are three words that sum it up:
“What a blessing.”
