Eikenberry & Tucker Form Team for Komen Race for the Cure

Registration is open for the 2007 Komen NYC Race for the Cure, which will take place Sunday, September 9, 2007 at 9:20 am in Central Park. It is the signature fundraiser for the Greater New York City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"We hope to surpass the $4.2 million raised in 2006, said Komen Greater New York City Executive Director Donna Lawrence. "Last year, Komen NYC had to turn down nearly $1 million in worthy grant requests simply because we did not have the funding. We want to be able to fund even more grants this year."

Participants are being encouraged to register online (www.komennyc.org/race). It's easy and will help raise additional funds to fight breast cancer thanks to Accenture, which is donating $5 for each of the first 12,000 participants who register online.

Lawrence also revealed that Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker, stars of the long-running hit television show "LA Law," are joining forces with Komen Greater NYC for the Race and have formed their own team — Team Tuckerberry. "We are thrilled and honored to have Jill Eickenberry, a 21-year breast cancer survivor, and husband Michael Tucker as spokespersons for this year's Race, "said Lawrence. "In addition to forming their own team, they're opening their own team membership to the general public."

"Mike and I are very excited to be a part of this year's New York City Race," said Eikenberry. "As a survivor myself, I want to do whatever I can to fulfill the vision I share with Komen — and all Race participants — a vision of a world without breast cancer."

Eikenberry and Tucker will lead Team Tuckerberry through the 5K (3.2 mile) course in Central Park at 9:30 a.m. — the Race Day start time for walkers. The route starts at the Museum of Natural History and ends at the Bandshell, adjacent to Bethesda Terrace.

The first group of runners will begin the Race at 9:20 am, leading a pack of 25,000 runners and walkers — including over 2,000 breast cancer survivors — determined to run breast cancer out of town. Race participants will be led up Central Park West by over a dozen pink clad women on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The event's local presenting sponsor is Citi Smith Barney. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is honorary Race chair. Race Day hosts include CBS 2 Anchor Maurice DuBois and the Women of CBS 2's Komen Team (Tamsen Fadal, Kristine Johnson, Dr. Holly Phillips, Kate Sullivan, and Dana Tyler), as well as New York's106.7 fm's Valerie Smaldone.

Race sponsors include: Diamond — Accenture, Aromasin, Duane Reade, JPMorgan Chase, and Time Warner Center; Media —CBS 2, 1010 WINS, New York Post, New York's 106.7 fm; Platinum — American Express, ANN TAYLOR and Key Food; and, Gold — HIP Health Plan of New York, the Jacob Fuchsberg Law Firm and Tri-State Ford Dealers.

"We expect the 2007 Race to be our most successful ever," said Iris Dankner, Komen Greater NYC Board Member and Race Chair. "Each participant will be making a critical contribution to our efforts to eradicate breast cancer. We encourage people to run, walk, contribute or volunteer for this extremely important event."

"One in eight women in the US will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes. That's over 200,000 people in 2007. More than 40,000 will die," state press materials.  "Monies raised from the Race will be used to fund education, screening and treatment programs for underserved women in the Greater New York City metropolitan area, as well as national and local research for the cures.

Eikenberry has appeared on Broadway in Onward Victoria, Watch on the Rhine and Summer Brave, among others.  Off-Broadway credits include A Picasso, Lemon Sky and Uncommon Women and Others.  She won Obie Awards for her performances in Richard Greenberg's Life Under Water and Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky.  She has appeared in many plays regionally, and her many film and TV credits include Between the Lines, A Night Full or Rain, Arthur, "Strong Medicine" and "Judging Amy."

Tucker's Broadway credits include The Goodbye People and Trelawney of the 'Wells.'  Off-Broadway, he has appeared in such plays as Based on a Totally True Story, I'm Not Rappaport and Measure for Measure.  His many film credits include Radio Days, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Network, and Mighty Ducks II. He has also performed extensively in regional theatre, as well as appeared on such TV shows as "Family Law" and "The Practice."

Together, the actors (who are married) have been seen on Broadway in Moonchildren, in films such as An Unmarried Woman and on the popular series "L.A. Law," for which Tucker (who has been on the show for 8 years) received three Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations and Eikenberry received a Golden Globe Award, four Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.

The Greater New York City Affiliate, Susan G. Komen for the Cure was founded in 1990 and has raised over $34 million to date. The organization is unique, disbursing up to 75 percent of its net income to local programs in the five boroughs of New York City, on Long Island and in Westchester and Rockland Counties. In 2007, Komen Greater NYC is awarding close to $3.2 million in grants — $2 million will support 34 community-based organizations that provide breast health programs to underserved women, $245,000 will increase capacity of local researchers to enroll women in breast cancer trials and help fund local breast cancer conference and education programs, and close to $1 million will go for research.

For more information on Race registration, visit www.komennyc.org/race.  Visit www.komennyc.com for more information on Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Photo of Jill Eikeberry and Michael Tucker courtesy of www.tuckerberry.com