Arlene Neil has beaten breast cancer twice.

And she hopes that through her efforts, others may be able to do so, too.

That's why the Monroeville resident will be participating in the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Pittsburgh on Sunday, which is Mother's Day.

"I was very lucky. I had a supportive family and great friends," she said.

Neil, 59, a Stanton Heights native, grew up knowing about cancer.

Every woman in her family has had it and they all have beaten it.

Neil was diagnosed twice with breast cancer, once in 1995 and again in 1996, and beat it both times.

The second time, she had to have chemotherapy, enduring rigorous sessions but continuing to work as a dental hygienist in Pittsburgh.

After chemo, she would don a wig and go to work.

"They (the doctors) lied," said Neil, laughing. "They told me my hair would come back curly.

"It came back straight, just like I had before."

Both times, her cancer was diagnosed after a routine mammogram.

"It was definitely stressed to get one early on," says Neil.

Her involvement in the Race for the Cure began, however, before she was diagnosed.

Neil and her friends decided to start taking part in the event in honor of her mother and grandmother.

"We make a day of it," said Neil. "After the race, we go and have breakfast."

She's been walking and running for the cause for the past 14 to 15 years.

"We get so charged up, we run the last half of the way," said Neil, laughing again. "It takes us about 40 minutes."

The race has definitely grown in popularity since she started participating, said Neil.

When the race first started, she said, breast cancer generally wasn't talked about, but now, people are more open about it than when her grandmother, now 84, was diagnosed with it.

"I see all those pink shirts now," she said. "It's not a secret and it's not something to be ashamed of."

Her joy in life never diminished, according to Neil, who said she focused on the positive with the help of her husband, to whom she has been married for 39 years, and her two children.

She just got back from a trip to Paris, has been to Italy and Amersterdam and says she has plans for more travel as well.

And she plans to keep running, too.

"I'm going to run that race until I can't run anymore."

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday on Flagstaff Hill in Pittsburgh's Schenley Park and will continue until 8:15 a.m.

For more information or to register, call 412-342-0500 or visit the Web site at www.pittsburghraceforthecure.org [1].