LANSDALE >> About half of Wendy’s Warriors will run in the 5K at this year’s National Race to End Women’s Cancer, while the other half will do the 1-mile walk.

Worcester Township resident Wendy Ericsson, who co-captains the team with her niece, Lindsay Sweet, will be one of the walkers.

“Having just finished chemo, I’m not running just yet,” Ericsson said. “I’m glad to be walking.”

She’ll be doing more than walking, though, in the event, which is part of a weekend of activities by The Foundation to End Women’s Cancer (FWC), including a Gynecologic Cancer Survivor Course on Nov. 4 and the fundraising race on Nov. 5 in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C.

Ericsson, a uterine cancer survivor, co-chairs the race with Camille Grammer, an endometrial cancer survivor and star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

This is the eighth year for the race and the fourth year in which Wendy’s Warriors has taken part.

“The reason I support the Foundation for Women’s Cancer is because it is the only national organization devoted to all women’s below-the-belt cancers,” Ericsson said. “You can find support groups for ovarian cancer, you can find support groups for cervical cancer, but if you have some of the more rare gynecologic cancers — uterine cancer, which is what I have — there aren’t a whole lot of groups out there for that, and a lot of these cancers are related, so research in one area can certainly help with treatment in other areas.”

Ericsson said she was diagnosed with papillary serous uterine cancer in December of 2012.

“I was stage 4B, so very advanced, obviously,” she said.

“I had surgery and chemotherapy for six months and I was cancer-free for three years,” Ericsson said. “It came back in March of 2016 and I had six more months of chemotherapy and then it came back again this year.”

After getting a second opinion, she said, she went into a clinical trial.

“I had chemotherapy every week for 15 weeks and at that point, side effects made me have to stop the treatments,” Ericsson said. “However, it showed that I had a very good response.”

There was no sign of cancer at the time, she said.

“So I’m sort of in a holding pattern until December when I go back for my next set of scans and blood work and we’ll see where we are and where we go next, but my body needed a break, needed to rest and get stronger,” Ericsson said.

She is currently being treated at the Hanjani Institute of Gynecologic Oncology at Abington Hospital’s main campus in Abington, where Dr. Mark Shahin is her doctor, she said. Abington Hospital is part of the Jefferson Health system.

“Every five minutes a woman will receive a gynecologic cancer diagnosis in the United States. More than 107,470 women will be diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer and about 31,600 will die from these cancers in 2017. The FWC supports survivors and works to raise awareness and research funding to eradicate gynecologic cancers,” according to information in a race weekend fact sheet. “One of the major issues that the FWC hopes to highlight this year is the importance of clinical trials, which have significantly improved survival for women.”

The number of women enrolling in clinical trials is dropping, Ericsson said.

“The need for clinical trials is strong — without them research and science cannot advance, and the process slows down,” she wrote in an email. “It is very important that women enroll in trials when given the opportunity.”

Along with the survivor course information during the race weekend, the free courses are held around the country throughout the year, she said.

“I’ve been to several and I’ve always found them to be very helpful,” Ericsson said, “and a great way to make connections with people.”

The FWC’s financial goal is to raise half a million dollars through the race weekend, she said.

Wendy’s Warriors has been in the top five fundraising teams during the past three years, she said. The team has raised about $35,000 for FWC during those three years, with the amount increasing each year, she said. As of the end of October, the team had raised about $20,000 for this year’s race, with more coming in, she said. Donations may be made online at runsignup.com/wendyericsson.

The team’s fundraising has included events at Olce Pizza in Skippack, Really Cooking with Robin in East Norriton and Painting with a Twist in Skippack, she said.

This year’s biggest fundraising event was a concert and silent auction at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Ericsson said.

“I’ve tried to be more creative this year in ways to raise money. We never did the concert before and that was huge for us,” she said, “and a lot of fun.”

One of her biggest goals in participating in the race and the fundraising activities is to raise awareness of gynecologic cancer, she said.

Breast cancer awareness and fundraising has increased greatly during the past two decades, and she’d like to see the same thing happen with gynecologic cancer, she said.

“The lesser known cancers, the more rare cancers, could be equally or even more deadly. The research dollars are harder to come by — and for me, I need the research,” Ericsson said. “It’s personal.”

There are no good tests for gynecologic cancers, except for the PAP for cervical cancer, she said. In addition, the symptoms are vague, she said.

“As a result, these cancers are found later and are more deadly,” she wrote in emailed information. “More research is needed to find a way to find them earlier and treat them more effectively.”

The FWC provides a lot of grants for research, she said.

About 2,000 people will be attending the race, she said.

The Wendy’s Warriors team has about 20 members, she said, including her husband, George.

About half of the team members are friends or co-workers of Sweet, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, with the other half from Pennsylvania, Ericsson said.