Debra Lemoine | The Advocate

Peggy Hoffman decided in 2004 to volunteer in the Komen Race for the Cure in Baton Rouge as she entered the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center for radiation treatment for breast cancer.

After her treatments, Hoffman handed out T-shirts to participants that year.

"I just did it on a whim," Hoffman said. "I thought it would be a nice thing to give back."

Since then, she and her husband, Gary, have been getting more and more involved in the planning of the Komen race.

Even this year, as Peggy Hoffman undergoes treatments for her fifth reoccurrence of inflammatory breast cancer in the past four years, she is the registration co-chairwoman, and Gary Hoffman is the sponsor chairman and is in charge of online registration.

"I want them to find the magic pill," Peggy Hoffman said.

Gary Hoffman added that the races themselves are exciting with thousands of people representing a cross section of Baton Rouge coming out for the 5K race.

"We've made really good friends in this," Peggy Hoffman said. "We're helping it grow."

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer noted for making the breast red and swollen and typically doesn't show up as a lump in the breast or on a mammogram. In Peggy Hoffman's case, it showed up as a red rash on her breast in 2005 after she had completed treatments for her "regular" breast cancer.

Peggy Hoffman, 54, continues to work as a traffic coordinator for a chemical distributor from her home while Gary Hoffman, 60, works at another chemical company in Port Allen. Married more than 18 years, the Baton Rouge couple has a "combined" family of his two sons and her two daughters, all grown, from previous marriages.

What keeps Peggy Hoffman going are her four grandsons, her husband said.

"She is a great inspiration for us all," said Alicia Chatman, race co-chairwoman. "When we walk in tired and exhausted from lack of sleep from the stress of it all, you look at her, and know that's what it is all about."

Organizers expect about 8,700 participants in this year's race, which has been moved to the LSU campus at the Nicholson Drive Extension because of the race's continuous growth, Chatman said.

"It's a good spot," Chatman said. "The route is through the lakes and sorority row. It's a lot of scenery."

About 8,400 participated last year when the race was near the Governor's Mansion.

Fundraising this year is expected to reach $270,000 to fund local breast cancer screening, treatment and education projects and national grants to find a cure, Chatman said. About $250,000 was raised last year.

New team-specific Web sites where people can donate money has helped fundraising efforts this year, Chatman said.

"It's been phenomenal for us," she said.