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COLUMBIA,MO -- Breast cancer is terrible disease that nearly 1.3 million women and men are diagnosed with every year. No one knows the exact cause of this disease, and right now there is no cure for it.

So organizations like Susan G. Komen are raising money to help find a cure for the disease.

Early Sunday morning nearly four thousand people gathered for the first ever Susan G. Komen 5k  Race for the Cure, in Columbia

Walkers and runners made the 3.1 mile trip, battling the rain to show support for the fight against breast cancer.

"Any kind of research that is done is going to help improve the chances of people surviving, and we know that the earlier you catch any kind of cancer the more the survival rate is, and the possibility of continuing to live a fruitful life," 5k Runner Janice Morris said.

22-year breast cancer survivor Mark Goldstein is one of the thousands who participated in the Komen 5k Race for the Cure Sunday.

He has been traveling to as many Komen events as possible, trying to spread the word that men can get breast cancer.

"In May of 1988 I had a modified radical mastectomy for a disease that men are not supposed to get. Conventionally people are supposed to believe that this is for women only, but it's not, about a thousand men develop the disease and four hundred succumb to it," 22-year Breast Cancer Survivor Mark Goldstein said.

Goldstein said he travels with a message.

"I participate in the Komen Race for the Cure’s events for one major reason to eradicate breast cancer and men should not die from breast cancer out of ignorance," Goldstein said.

There were many other survivors there Sunday showing everyone that they beat breast cancer.

One of the survivors I spoke with shared with me just how important it is for women to get checked for breast cancer yearly.

"One in eight women will have breast cancer in their lifetime, so it is very important to have that mammogram, to be familiar with your body, and to continue to see your doctor, even if you’re healthy. Breast cancer happens to people no matter what, even if they have not had cancer in their family,” Breast Cancer Survivor Sheri Hines said. “Often times that one in eight, is someone who hasn't had breast cancer in their family."

As the 5k race ended Sunday people were cheering not just for the runners, but for those who have battled breast cancer.