BANGOR — When Jae Libby-Folster was 27, she never thought she would be stricken with cancer. She was working at a podiatrist’s office in Lincoln, had a 2½-year-old son, and her life was going well, she said.

Then she got the call.

Libby-Folster’s doctor told her that she had Paget’s Disease, a rare form of cancer that typically occurs in women 55 or older, she said. Twelve years, two mastectomies and almost a dozen reconstructive surgeries later, the Enfield woman was hugging friends at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday.

“I thought, ‘Holy crap.’ I was totally amazed,” Libby-Folster said of the moment she heard the diagnosis. “I thought, ‘How come me?’”

“I never shed a tear,” Libby-Folster added. “I said, ‘Oh well.’ I just kept on going. I had a son.”

Held to honor those surviving and struck down by breast cancer, the fundraiser drew about 3,000 people to the Bangor Waterfront, said Kim White, the event’s co-chairwoman. Fundraising totals will not be available for a few days. Seventy-five percent of the money raised remains in Maine for education, screenings and treatment. The rest funds research.

“It (attendance) is down this year, but we are hoping that it will pick up next year,” White said. She blamed the cloudy skies and sudden squalls that occurred during the event’s race and walk and competition from other events around the state.

The clouds lingered, but the rain didn’t. The skies opened up and poured heavily just before the 5K race’s start and kept pouring for about 15 minutes. Then the sun shone, giving everything a freshly washed look.

The rain didn’t bother 16-year-old Jordynne Littlefield of Guilford, who hitched a piggy-back ride on her friend, 19-year-old Frank Stone of Dover-Foxcroft. They attended the event with Stone’s family, which was remembering several relatives lost to cancer over the last few decades.

Mike Socoby, 29, of Old Town raced his girlfriend, 26-year-old Caitlyn Elliott of Corinth, to the finish line. They were both running in honor of Central High School coach Diane Rollins, a breast cancer survivor. Socoby got beat by a few steps — and not due to chivalry, he said.

“We’re just competitive,” Elliott said after the two high-fived and hugged. “I had to beat him.”

“For once,” Socoby said.

“This is the only thing I beat him in, so I have to do it,” Elliott said.

Socoby also ran in tribute to his grandfather, Paul Greeley of Sipayik, who is battling colon cancer, he said.

Libby-Folster walked the 5K course for her 10th year to help raise awareness, she said, and to mark her own success.

“I’m complete again,” she said.

Jeff Folster, her husband, participated in her honor.

“She was awesome,” the 44-year-old Folster said of his wife’s battle with cancer. “She never looked back. She held her head up all the time. There was never a question that she was going to beat it.”

Libby-Folster has raised more than $5,000 and walked more than 120 miles with Komen events, she said.

Marcy Edwards accompanied her husband and daughter, who ran in the race, and to bolster herself with the good vibes from the survivors after a very close call. The 43-year-old Orrington woman learned on Saturday that some suspected breast cancer tumors were benign, although she still has other health problems, she said.

“It’s all about having a positive attitude. I am trying to learn from the people here,” said Edwards, who described herself as shy. “It just makes me feel good because you know what? Not everybody gets a chance to grow old.”

“I get a chance to,” she added, “at least today I do.”