The skies may have been gray Saturday morning, but everything else – including the old bridge – was pink at the Come Walk With Me 5K for Breast Health at the Old Cannery in Sumner.

More than 520 walkers and runners braved an early morning chill and persistent drizzle to raise awareness for the continued fight against breast cancer, most dressed in their finest shades of pink.

Sponsored by the Good Sam Foundation, the Sumner Downtown Association and members of the Van Dyk family, this year’s event was significantly bigger than last year’s happening, drawing more than 100 additional walkers and 15 additional sponsor booths.

According to Beth Brooks, event manager for the Good Sam Foundation, this year’s walk was “huge.”

“This year it kind of exploded,” she said.

This is the first year the foundation has been involved in the walk and Brooks said the energy of the event, despite the questionable weather, was an inspiration.

“I think it’s awesome,” she said. “We like the hope and positivity around here.

“This is our fight back,” she said.

While Good Sam and the SDA helped pull the event together, Brooks said it was the Van Dyk family, one of Sumner’s oldest, that was the driving force behind this year’s walk.

According to family member Ida McLeary, the Van Dyks in recent years have had two family members battling the disease, including her mother and sister, who lost her fight with breast cancer earlier this year.

McLeary said the purpose was to show those going through treatment they are not alone.

“We want people to know there’s someone here,” she said. “You won’t make it without (support).”

McLeary said the family’s goal is to raise enough money to help purchase a mobile mammogram unit to encourage more women to be checked in hopes of finding the disease in its early, and therefore more treatable stages.

She also said she was excited to see such a large turnout for this year’s event.

“It’s bigger than I can imagine,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”