Why I'm running for research

Cancer has touched my life as I'm sure it has many of yours. I've been most personally affected by my mother's breast cancer. She was first diagnosed on 9/11/87, while I was just starting my senior year in high school. Her treatment consisted of a lumpectomy, the removal of several lymph nodes, and then 35 radiation treatments over the course of 7 weeks. Seventeen years later, she was diagnosed for the 2nd time with breast cancer and opted for a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. The doctors found cancer cells in the breast tissue that had been killed by the radiation 17 years earlier. She decided to undergo genetic testing and discovered she carries the altered BRCA2 gene, which greatly increases her risk of developing ovarian or breast cancer. She opted for a 2nd mastectomy, hysterectomy, and bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy. The removed breast tissue was sent to the lab and was found to contain cancer cells. My mom is a survivor and I'm running in her honor. One of my mom's younger sisters was also diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. Sometimes the question in my head is not if I'll get breast cancer, but when.

Cancer has hit heavily in Stefan's family. His father died of liver cancer when he was 53 years old. His paternal grandfather died of colon cancer when he was 72 and his paternal grandmother died of ovarian cancer when she was 80. Most recently, his paternal uncle died from brain cancer at the age of 56. I'm running in memory of all those we've known, loved, and lost to cancer.

The Ultimate Finish Line - A World Without Cancer

Last April I ran my first Boston Marathon. It was my sixth marathon and my most difficult. I had been sick in the days leading up to the marathon and found myself walking through much of the second half. I was so disappointed after having trained through my first winter in New England. I decided to run the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon just five weeks later and set a personal best. I wasn't convinced I would run the Boston Marathon again and then a friend told me about the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC).

The DFMC is a team of over 500 runners who raise money to benefit the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. The Barr Program is located at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. A full 100% of the money raised goes directly towards the Barr Program. I am happy to be a member of the 2009 DFMC team. While I'm nervous about the fundraising, I am committed to the cause of helping researchers find a cure for cancer.