DECATUR - Back in the 1990s, Terry Meier began walking in fundraising events to fight cancer after her husband survived Hodgkin's disease.

On Saturday, she walked a mile through Fairview Park to celebrate more recent victories over the deadly disease.

Meier recently survived her own bout with cancer. Her mother, Mary Hamilton of Peoria, was diagnosed with cancer nine years ago.

The two women have been walking together in the Decatur event for the past six years.

"This was the first year we walked together as survivors," Hamilton said, her eyes filling with tears. "To walk it together as survivors was very hard."

Meier walked along with her mother, two children and grandson at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which drew almost 4,000 people on a pleasant summer morning.

Meier's husband, Pat, was 32 at the time he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's, a cancer of the lymphatic system, part of the immune system. The couple's children were 7 and 3 years old.

"He is a miracle," Terry Meier said of her husband's recovery. Pat Meier usually joins his wife at the cancer fundraisers but was working this year.

Terry Meier believes surviving cancer or living with a cancer patient carries measures of responsibility to help others.

"I could help my dad because I was a spouse of a cancer survivor," she said, adding her mother could help her because she knew what it was like to endure the suffering.

Her mother, who said it was harder for her to watch her daughter suffer than have the disease herself, called Terry "my angel."

"She took care of me; she encouraged me when I got sick," Hamilton said.

John Moody walked through the park to encourage his wife, Karen, a three-year breast cancer survivor. He said it was uplifting to celebrate his wife's good health and all the survivors.

"It's emotional to see the huge throng of people who show up," Moody said.

At the events he has attended the past three years, he has become aware that specific acquaintances were cancer survivors. The cancer survivors are asked to wear pink T-shirts.

A hospital nurse who sometimes works with cancer patients, Karen Moody said there is a feeling of sisterhood among those who have suffered from the disease.

"Once you've gone through it and meet someone else who's gone through it, you have an instant connection," Karen Moody said.

Teresa Stewart, a hospital social worker who lost her parents to cancer, walked with her two daughters, Maria Bloemer, a radiation therapist who treats cancer patients, and Krista Bloemer, an occupational therapy student.

Stewart said she appreciates that people who work at both local hospitals forget the competition between them.

"This is a place people come together for this cause," Stewart said. "I like that feeling of cooperation. I think it's a tremendous event."

Dr. Amy Budke, a pathologist with a practice in Bloomington, came to Decatur to run the event's 5K race with her son, Jacob Veazey, and friend, Misty Hailey.

"This is a good course," Budke said. "I like the hills. It's good to know your entire fee is going to a good cause."

Seventy-five percent of the funds raised will be distributed in the 13-county area covered by the Decatur Race for the Cure chapter, said Dawn Followell, race general chairwoman. The funds will be used for free mammograms for low-income women, education, support groups and clinical trials. The other 25 percent goes to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to be used for research. The fundraising goal for the 2008 event was $300,000.

Followell, who has walked in every event for 18 years and volunteered to direct committees for 10 years, said she became involved because she had many friends with breast cancer. Her husband, Russell, who died in August, had been with her at the previous events.

"He was out here every year helping," she said.

Despite having to carry on without her husband, Followell was upbeat and enjoyed the excitement of the event.

"It's been a great day," Followell said. "The weather was wonderful. We are just happy people continue to come out here every year."

Huey Freeman can be reached at hfreeman@herald-review.com or 421-6985.