After Connie Close and her family crossed the finish line of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure yesterday in Schenley Park, emotions were as pervasive as the color pink.

"I'm so happy to be here. Every day is a blessing," she said, noting she'd undergone chemo and radiation therapies and reconstructive surgery after her diagnosis 4¹/₂ years ago.

"I run for my family and friends who supported me," she said, her comments punctuated with tears. "This is a very emotional and happy day."

It was particularly happy, she said, because her oncologists confirmed Friday that she remains cancer free.

Mrs. Close, 52, of Penn Township, Westmoreland County, was one of 36,000 people who participated in the 16th annual race that's become a rite of Mother's Day in Pittsburgh.

Some said they participated to help others or commemorate breast cancer victims. But the main focus is to celebrate survivors such as Mrs. Close.

Pre-race ceremonies featured an emotional parade and tribute involving nearly 3,000 breast cancer survivors wearing pink hats and shirts. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and his wife, Shelly, a breast cancer survivor, were this year's honorary race chairman and chairwoman.

The Rev. Michelle Wahila, an associate pastor at Third Presbyterian Church in Shadyside, said church members run the 8:30 a.m. race every year, then hurry to attend church services at 11 a.m. A marathoner, Ms. Wahila said she runs the race because breast cancer affects many in her congregation.

"It's a good way to spend 25 minutes, that's for sure," she said.

Total donations have yet to be announced, but Kathy Purcell, executive director of the Pittsburgh Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, said she expects they will top last year's total of $2.5 million and push the 16-year total to more than $20 million.

On average, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes, according to www.breastcancer.org, with 213,000 new cases in 2006 and 41,000 deaths. The incidence has risen from one in every 20 women in 1960 to one in eight today, according to the Web site.

Yesterday's event was equal parts race, celebration, festival and traffic jams.

In previous years participants became race legends with spectacular costumes, but this year produced few spectacles of note, save for the sheer size of the event that caused hours of traffic backups in parts of Squirrel Hill and Oakland and on the Parkway East. More than two hours after the 5-kilometer race and walk began, waves of latecomers continued crossing the finish line.

One group of women wore bras over their clothes featuring pink glitter with matching glasses and hats. Pink rabbit ears were prominent. Baby carriages adorned with pink, and proud dogs of all sizes, some wearing pink scarves and even T-shirts, were highlights.

The Spaghetti Warehouse in the Strip District, hoping for a listing in Guinness World Records, produced a 35-by-35-foot lasagna, then served it for donations.

Ms. Purcell said odd things typically happen on race day. Yesterday, she got an early morning call that a truck was at Schenley Park to drop off a horse. As it turned out the horse was a large black-and-white horse statue destined for the Pink Ribbon Roundup booth on Flagstaff Hill on the Carnegie Mellon University campus.

"This is a feat," Ms. Purcell said. "This has become a Mother's Day tradition. This is what people do."

The Race for the Cure actually is a 5K race, and this year's winner was Pat McGuire, 25, of Charlottesville, Va., and formerly of Greensburg. He finished fastest at 15 minutes, 41 seconds. He said he ran "for Mother's Day and a good cause."

The female winner, Kelly Zilles Knickelbein, 27, of Indiana, Pa., is a member of DNA Divas and Dudes and is studying genetic counseling at the University of Pittsburgh with a specialty in breast cancer. She finished in 19:19.

"No words can describe the value this is for Pittsburgh," Ms. Knickelbein said of the event. "Without it, they could not do as much as they do" for women with breast cancer. She came in second in 2005 but missed the last two years due to injuries.

Ginny Ellwood once again came in first among breast cancer survivors, this time in 21:50. The 50-year-old Penn Township woman has won the survivors' race 13 of 16 years. When the first race occurred, she said, she'd just been diagnosed.

"So far, so good," she said of her health.

In the early years, she said she ran to emphasize the impact of breast cancer. In subsequent years, her motivation turned to raising money for research, services and education.

"Now I just love the people," Ms. Ellwood said. "This has turned into a friendship event for me -- the camaraderie, the support and the friendship."