Running for a Cure!

Nearly four years ago, I joined my beloved running club Team in Training, charity runners for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The group seemed like a natural fit. Their mission was to crush cancer (a disease I view as public enemy #1) and to do it through running (something I love). I could get in shape and make a difference at the same time.

Little did I know what a profound role this group would play in my life, how many lifelong friends I’d meet, how many miles I’d run (!), or that more loved ones of mine would be effected by this disease in the years to come. Since joining Team in Training, I’ve run 2,000 miles, raised over $10,000 individually, and been part of a team that has raised over $23 million for cancer research. Last year the national Team in Training organization broke the $1 billion mark in funds raised since its inception 25 years ago. In that time, the treatments available to people living with cancer have significantly improved and survival rates have skyrocketed. Still there is more work to be done.

Never does that realization hit you more strongly than when you are dealt the blow of hearing that someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer. That call came for me this past year when I learned that both one of my best friends, Allison McGinley, and my mom were diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Allison is 27 years old, has the most infectious laugh you can imagine, and has devoted her life to serving people with mental disabilities. She was 7 months pregnant at the time she was diagnosed. In the minutes, hours, and days since finding out, I found myself experiencing the rollercoaster of grieving and coping mechanisms that I’d forgotten since our last family diagnosis. Denial, disbelief, anger, blame, more anger, powerlessness, self-blame for not catching on that something was up, moments of wondering why not me instead. I found myself re-reading letters from Ali from the last few months and agonizing over what I could have done differently to somehow help my friend. More productively, I found myself wondering what I could do now to help her.

My mom was diagnosed just 8 months later. Just as Ali finished up her last round of chemo and things were starting to look up for her, I felt my heart drop thinking of my mom starting along a similar journey. To receive treatment faster and with top physicians at a cutting edge academic medical center, Mom moved out to Brooklyn to live with us. It was unbelieveably scary, but also a blessing to have Mom here and have her spend so much time with Natalie while she was 4-6 months old.

Now the best news, Ali and Mom are both in remission! I know that running a marathon is a very small gesture, but somehow knowing it was a mechanism that would inspire raising funds to continue to support cancer research, it feels meaningful.

If you are wanting and able to make a donation, it would really mean a lot to me andmy family!

Mary