One person is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes in the United States.

That’s why more than 2,000 women and nearly 200 men are parading in pink for 60 miles from Lake Lanier Islands to the Turner Field parking lot in Atlanta this weekend. The Breast Cancer 3-Day event benefits Susan G. Komen For the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust.

The 7:30 a.m. opening ceremony Friday at Lake Lanier Islands sent cancer survivors and the survivors of loved ones on their three-day journey.

This is the fifth year Atlanta has been one of 15 host cities nationwide for the event. Last year, Atlanta participants raised $8.3 million to fund breast cancer research, education and community health programs.

Each walker raised at least $2,300 to participate in the event this year. The official total fundraised this year is expected to exceed $5 million, but will not be announced until Sunday, Breast Cancer 3-Day national spokeswoman Jenne Fromm said.

Participants will walk about 20 miles each day and camp out along the route at night. Water bottles, portable potties, meals, medical attention and encouragement from school children and cheering residents is offered along the way.

Irene Zoesch, 28, is one of the 400 volunteers who is helping to manage the event. The Atlanta resident said this is her second year participating in the event to honor her mother, Sharon Zoesch, who lost her 10-year battle against breast cancer five years ago.

Zoesch said the walk sparks camaraderie between those whose lives have been touched by breast cancer.

"It’s always phenomenal because you see so many people you are not only walking 60 miles(with), but who also have worked so hard to recruit and raise money," she said. "It’s just phenomenal. It’s the power of people."

Jen Abbott, 28, drove to Lake Lanier Islands from her home in New Jersey to walk in the 3-Day. This is her third year walking in honor of her cousin, Candice Irvin, who died from breast cancer at age 24.

The nurse said she used her vacation time this year to walk in the 3-Day events in Boston and Philadelphia. Her goal is walk the event in all 15 cities. She has her sights set on San Diego next.

"It’s awesome. You laugh, you cry," she said.

Fromm, a cancer survivor herself, said the 3-Day allows cancer survivors and their loved ones to shake free the sense of helplessness that often follows a cancer diagnosis.

"They may come in thinking, ‘Breast cancer has all the cards,’" she said. "By the closing ceremony, they feel breast cancer’s days are numbered, not theirs."

Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure and the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has invested more than $1.3 billion to support cancer research, making it the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.