Susan G. Komen Houston Race for the Cure today decided to accept pledges through Nov. 15 instead of usually the end of October due to Hurricane Ike.

The storm distracted the campaign causing pledges to dip, Houston executive director Adriana Higgins was cited by chron.com as saying.

As of late Friday after, participants had promised more than $1.7 million, or about 58 percent of the expected target.

Last year the organization received $3.8 million while $2.5 million was pledged.

30,000 people were expected to participate in today's 19th annual event compared to 29,000 for last year.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure was founded in 1982 to seek a cure worldwide for breast cancer.