DENVER (CBS4)- Thousands of people laced up their sneakers and hit the street Saturday morning for the Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes.

“I lived with diabetes for 30 years. I grew up in a family where my dad has had diabetes for my whole life,” said diabetes sufferer Mari Ruddy.

Ruddy’s story was like many who took part in the walk until she found out she had breast cancer on top of diabetes. Though both were difficult, she found diabetes to be harder to live with.

“Cancer is very very hard but it’s acute. It lasted for eight, nine, ten months and then I was okay. I don’t have cancer anymore. I still have diabetes,” said Ruddy.

Live music and support from the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders kept them going to cross the finish line.

About 2,000 people attended Saturday’s walk that raised nearly $250,000 for diabetes research.

CBS4 is a proud sponsor of the event organized by the American Diabetes Association.