A Q&A with Event Chair and Survivor Nancy McMillan
Nancy McMillan is an 18-year breast cancer survivor and event chair of the BRIGHT Run.
BRIGHT Run volunteer Helaine Ortmann, retired senior development officer at the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation and a breast cancer survivor herself, sat down with Nancy to learn more about the fundraiser, and the woman behind the fundraising.
Q: For those who are new to the family, what is the BRIGHT Run?
A: The BRIGHT Run raises funds to support local breast cancer research. It’s a one or five kilometre walk, run or stroll. It’s for everyone: patients, survivors, family members, caregivers, and cheerleaders. BRIGHT stands for Breast Cancer Research In Greater Hamilton Today. Greater Hamilton includes Niagara, Brantford, Haldimand, Norfolk, Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton, and all parts in between and beyond. Every dollar raised by our participants goes directly and entirely to breast cancer research at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and McMaster University.
Q: Tell us about the success of BRIGHT Run 2025.
A: We raised $535,000. About 1,500 participants plus 200 volunteers joined together under sunny skies to do what they do best: raise funds, support and cheerlead, walk/run, or volunteer to make sure that everyone has a great day.
Q: On to 2026.
A: BRIGHT Run 2026 is on Saturday, September 12 at Christie Lake Conservation Area in Dundas. (It’s not going to rain.) Our goal will start with a five, and the day will be ever more exciting!
Q: How does a team get started?
A: 1. Find a team captain (a good leader). 2. Come up with a spectacular name for your team. 3. Recruit team members. 4. Go to www.brightrun.ca to register and join your team.
Q: What information is on the website?
A: An overview of what the event is all about, including: the roster of our 12-person volunteer executive team; the benefits of being a participant or a volunteer; fundraising tips and tools; event day schedule; a list of the 24 projects that the BRIGHT Run has so far funded; and a photo gallery from the past 10 years. And, there’s a contact button so that we can help you with any questions you have.
Q: I’m assuming it takes a village to make the BRIGHT Run happen.
A: It does. More than 200 volunteers in those unmistakeable blue shirts: preteens to teens to “veterans.” Volunteers start working on the BRIGHT Run as early as April at community events and don’t stop until event day. Teens get volunteer hours for their high school graduation and everyone else walks away with the honour and the privilege of contributing to a fantastic cause.
Q: How do you donate and support a friend or a team?
A: Go to www.brightrun.ca and click on the donate, sponsor, or register buttons. Search for your friend or a team by name.
Q: How do community and corporate organizations support the BRIGHT Run?
A: They are vital to the success and the existence of the BRIGHT Run. We count on them to fund the cost of tents, chairs, tables and all that good stuff. There is a dedicated tab at www.brightrun.ca for community partners that outlines how they can make a difference and how they will be recognized.
Q: How have BRIGHT Run research dollars helped the community, the survivors?
A: Let me count the ways. BRIGHT …
- “Seeds” projects that may go on to be funded nationally and internationally.
- Advances treatment. Eighteen years ago, I received 30 treatments of radiation over a six-week period. Today, where appropriate and indicated, radiation can now be five to 10 treatments over one to two weeks.
- Makes discoveries. Today, there is a topical medication (TKA) that is applied at the time of the surgery to advance the healing process and eliminate as much bruising as possible so folks can move on to the next step of their treatment in a more timely way.
- Enhances the patient care experience. BRIGHT funded one of the ultrasound suites in the CIBC Breast Assessment Centre.
- Collaborates. BRIGHT brought the PYNK program to JCC; a collaboration with the Jess Neuberger Charitable Foundation in Toronto. It’s one of the three programs in Ontario that meets the unique needs of young patients (under 40) diagnosed with breast cancer, looking at: fertility, genetics, return to work, body image, etc.
- Innovates. A number of years ago, BRIGHT partnered with McMaster University and launched the BRIGHT Run Breast Cancer Research Learning Health System chair to, after an international search, identify an engineer who specialized in artificial intelligence (AI). AI is now applied to breast cancer research, moving us further ahead with leading-edge results and impact.
Q: A pivot now, Nancy, to the personal. How did you become involved with the BRIGHT Run?
A: Eighteen years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer: the first year the BRIGHT Run started up. For three years, I participated as a walker (this body does not run) and captained a team called McMillan’s Madcaps. In year four, I joined the BRIGHT marketing committee; something new for me. Year five, I said yes to being the assistant to the event chair. We’re now at year 19. For 14 years, I’ve had the honour of chairing the event with a wonderful executive of 12.
Q: What do you do as BRIGHT Run event chair?
A: I’m an ambassador. I want people to know that this wonderful event takes place right here in Hamilton and that the funds support the Juravinski and McMaster Hospitals. And, I’m a problem solver. My answer is always yes; then it’s up to me to figure out the how and the when.
Q: What makes you come back year after year?
A: BRIGHT is like a family reunion. Patients bump into people we sat beside in chemo way back when. Caregivers cross paths with fellow caregivers. I love bringing people together to experience the excitement, electricity and the energy of the day.
Q: People like you are driven by passion and cause. Is that the case with you?
A: Absolutely. It’s my reason for getting up in the morning. I feel, in a small way, that I can make a difference to individuals who are walking the same path that I walked, and walk every day. I take great joy in saying to someone who is newly diagnosed and not feeling at the top of their game, hey, wait a minute, 18 years ago, I was standing where you are. Look at me now; you too can be here. We take care of each other. No one is ever alone.
Q: Nancy, what are your future goals?
A: The immediate goal is to get through my to-do list in my BRIGHT Run book that is ever growing!
Next is BRIGHT Run 2026 on September 12 at Christie Lake Conservation Area in Dundas. The fundraising goal will begin with the number five and we will blow it out of the water with another spectacular event.
Longer term is BRIGHT’s 20th anniversary in 2027. We’re unique being one of the few volunteer-organized, sustained events that makes it beyond year five. So to hit year 20 is a remarkable achievement for everybody who has participated or volunteered along the way. I’m really looking forward to not only doing our extraordinary fundraising, but celebrating the 20th anniversary in a very special way.
Both now and in the future my goal is to help make change that will improve the quality of Iife for breast cancer patients and increase the ranks of those, like me, who can say that they HAD breast cancer. Put hope into action.
