Sleep In For the Cure This Weekend

By Melissa Maynarich, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thousands will be racing for the cure this weekend, but if you'd rather snooze then put on your running shoes because Sleep In for the Cure is just for you. You can support the Susan G. Komen foundation from the comfort of your own bed this weekend.

For those Oklahomans who don't want to get up early on their Saturday morning to run in the Race for the Cure in Bricktown can still believe in the cause and support breast cancer research.

Veronica Long wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to spend her day organizing and sterilizing surgical tools. She's worked at the hospital for 30 years. So, a break from this tedious work is what she looks forward to each Saturday and Sunday.

"My weekends I try to sleep in until 9 or 10 a.m.," Long said.

But, it's a good job. She earns steady pay, and with the money she makes, Veronica is donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She's "sleeping in" for the cure instead of racing for it.

Veronica is a breast cancer survivor.

"You feel like, wow, you know," said Long." You never think it's going to happen to you until it happens."

After a mastectomy, Long went into remission. Now, she makes sure she lives to the fullest every day, on the clock and off, and sleeping in helps.

"I'm happy, I'm healthier," said Long. "I'm not, as you know, like I was a couple years ago when I first got sick. I feel good, I don't feel bad. I just make sure I take care of myself. I'm a little more careful about everything."

Participants will still get a T-shirt if they decide to sleep in. And, for $1, you can buy a raffle ticket to win a king size bed and mattress set from Haggard Furniture.

Learn more about sleeping in for the cause and Race for the Cure.