AUSTIN, Texas — Cyclists, walkers and runners raced around Downtown Austin on Sunday morning for the 27th annual Livestrong Challenge, which supports cancer survivors and their families.
Cyclists could choose to bike between 20 to 100 miles through the Texas Hill Country and back to Downtown Austin, and runners and walkers raced 5Ks and 10Ks around Lady Bird Lake. Cancer survivors were wearing blue shirts and got a rose when they crossed the finish line.
It's a feeling that Livestrong board member and fellow cancer survivor Candice Aaron said is like no other.
“You feel like you're crossing your cancer finish line again,” Aaron said.
Aaron competed in her first Livestrong Challenge in 2009 and said the part that brings her the most joy is talking to other survivors and offering support.
“I mean, that feeling of being surrounded by people who get it is incomparable,” Aaron said.
It's a feeling 15-year-old Anna De Leon has been experiencing recently.
"I feel really grateful to have people on my side," De Leon said.
Anna was diagnosed with cancer back in May and has spent this summer going through chemo.
"I felt very lonely during the summer because nobody else was going through the same thing as me, or like, very few people my age are going through this, which is hard," De Leon said.
But on Sunday, she was grateful to be spending the day out with family and supporters instead of lying in a hospital room.
"It feels less lonely knowing that other people have gone through the same thing," De Leon said.
Anna De Leon's mom, Shannon De Leon, started making "Team Anna" shirts, hats and stickers that say “Beat Cancer. Fearless Era. Strong and Courageous” right when she got diagnosed.
PHOTOS: Team Anna
"Being 15 these days is not easy, independent of a cancer diagnosis," Shannon De Leon said. "I wanted to make sure she had a visible sign of the community around her."
Anna De Leon was not able to race because of her recent chemo treatments, but she is in remission and hopes to run next year. Taking her place this year was all of her family, including her little brother, Henry De Leon.
"Whenever I felt like giving up, I just thought of my sister and I thought this was for her," Henry De Leon said.
Seeing a whole crowd of people supporting Anna De Leon meant everything to her family.
"If I know that people are giving support to Anna, then it just makes me feel better," Henry De Leon said.
"It just really touches my heart because I feel like it's somebody else that loves my child and that's willing to show that to her," Shannon De Leon said.
The Livestrong Challenge raised more than $400,000 on Sunday. That will fund crucial programs that help solve cancer challenges as well as support cancer survivors and their families.