An Austin woman appointed to the Austin Komen for the Cure board of directors in April just started her own race for a cure.

The energy and excitement found at any Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is infectious, and that's what got Ashley Doran hooked back in 1996 at a race in Fort Worth.

“I don't even remember the race, there was just this surge of people, and it was just so inspiring, I thought 'Man, I am going to stick with this race,'” said Doran.

As soon as Doran crossed the finish line, she was ready to sign on the dotted line - volunteering for the Komen foundation and Race for the Cure.

When Doran moved to Austin with her son, Max, she immediately found friends at the local Komen chapter -- friends that were there just a month ago when she found a suspicious lump.

“I remember calling my girlfriend, Marsha, and just crying. She said, 'It's a fibroid,' and I said, 'No, nope, nope,'” said Doran.

At just 42 years of age, Doran was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, but she wasted no time.

On July 11, she underwent a double mastectomy.

Her friends at Komen went right to work, forming a Race for the Cure team in her honor.

“That's what this board team is about - it's about us doing something everyday for Ashley, and for all the women undergoing treatment,” said George Noelke, president of the Austin Komen for the Cure board of directors.

Doran is still recovering from surgery. She isn't sure if she'll undergo chemotherapy or be able to race on November 2.

But she'll be there, wearing "survivor pink" for the very first time.

“You see these stories on the jumbo-tron, and you meet these women and it's emotional, and then it's like, 'Oh my God, it's you?' Yeah, it's gonna really be something,” said Doran.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death behind lung cancer. That's why KVUE News and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure have teamed up to promote breast cancer awareness.