Tag Archives: Cancer

Running to Fight Cancer

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Local runner and cancer advocate Matthew Flory recently created a Facebook group entitled 5Ks that Fight Cancer (Minneapolis/Saint Paul).

In the group he lists 10 5ks that benefit cancer research within the Twin Cities metro area.  In the group’s description he say:

Cancer is the number one cause of death in Minnesota, but there are many organizations and causes joined in the fight to defeat this disease. Many have 5k races as fundraisers.

We all know that most races have some charitable benefit to them.  Some of the best known national charity running events revolve around cancer research.  Almost everyone has been touched by this nasty illness.  The Team in Training group is a nationally recognized fundraising machine.

Flory limited his list for this group to just 5k races – they are the most common and most accessible for average people. Here is his list:

Get Your Rear In Gear, Minneapolis, April 19, 2009
http://www.getyourrearingear.com/
Proceeds benefit the Minnesota Colon Cancer Coalition

Twin Cities Race For the Cure, May 10, 2009
http://www.racecure.org/site3.aspx
Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen Foundation

Brian Kraft Memorial 5k, May 25, 2009
http://www.usatfmn.org/brian-kraft-memorial-5k
Proceeds benefit University of Minnesota

Challenge Cancer 5K, Saint Paul, June 6
Proceeds benefit Charities Challenge

Twin Cities Lung Walk 5K, Saint Paul, June 7
www.lungwalk.org
Proceeds benefit the American Lung Association

Time to Fly Walk/Run, Saint Paul, June 27th
Proceeds benefit Child Cancer Research Fund

American Cancer Society 5K, Bloomington, August 15th
Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society

Silent No More Minnesota Ovarian Cancer September 13, 2009
Proceeds benefit the MN Ovarian Cancer Alliance

The Hartford Pace Case Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer, September 26, 2009
Proceeds will benefit the Prostate Cancer Education Council.

ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Minneapolis, October 10, 2009
Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society

So if you like to run for specific causes this might be a helpful group to check out.

[tags] Running, Cancer, Charity [/tags]

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Race Plan: Brian Kraft 5k

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Image from Down the Backstretch

The next race in the USATF-MN series is the Brian Kraft 5k around Lake Nokomis. It should be a very fast race.  Last year it was won in 14:47 by Jeremy Polson and 16:52 by Rasa Troup.

My post-collegiate 5k PR is 18:19 at the 2003 Jersey Shore 5k.  During which I cramped with a half-mile to go placing 2nd.  I’m not in the type of speed shape.  My most recent 5k was the Giving Thanks 5k from Thanksgiving where I ran a 20:01.  Based on my TC 1 Mile time, McMillan says I should be able to run a 18:49 (6:03).

That seems a little un-realistic.  I think I’ll shoot for a 19:30 which is a 6:15 pace.  I’ve not done much speed work lately so we’ll see how that goes!

About the Race

This is the 12th edition of the race hosted by the USATF-MN chapter. All proceeds from the race benefit the Arnold S Leonard Cancer Research Fund which supports cancer research at the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Arnold Leonard has

devoted himself entirely to cancer research in genetic engineering, boosting the immune system with human interleukin-2 gene, boosted by the use of very high antioxidant oils. An Endowed Scholar Chair has been placed in Dr. Leonard’s name in the Surgery Department at the University of Minnesota, and he has also received the Wangensteen Award for Academic Excellence. Dr. Leonard belongs to all the major surgical societies, and continues to lecture throughout the world on the importance of the immune system and its relationship to cancer plus the importance of nutraceuticals as synergistic to the genetic engineering experiments in reducing cancer. He has written over 250 articles and books.

Who is Brian Kraft?

From the race website:

Brian Kraft was an enthusiastic and talented runner from Bemidji, Minnesota. His running career was cut short at the age of 19 with the discovery of Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in his back. Brian lived with cancer for 15 years, undergoing chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and countless surgical procedures.

Throughout the years, Brian continued to run. He ran the lakes and parkways and raced with the local running crowd. In spite of all that life threw his way, he kept a positive attitude. Brian attributed his strength in his fight against cancer to his love of running and to the work of his long-time friend, Dr. Arny Leonard.

Two more detailed stories are available.  The first is a 2007 article originally published in the Minnesota Running and Track magazine, now available a doc file here.  The second is a blog post by the same author at Down the Backstretch, a local blog.

[tags] Brian Kraft Memorial 5k, 5k, Brian Kraft, Cancer [/tags]

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Foto Friday

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Its actually a video this week.

Brooks Running will donate 5 cents for every recorded view of this video to breast cancer research.  It is a kind of cute and funny.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2aecp-IINw

[tags] Brooks, cancer, video [/tags]

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Race Review: Turn up the Volume 4Mi

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A beautiful fall morning with temperatures in the mid-60’s setup an excellent morning for any running event.  After navigating around the closed and partially closed streets of downtown Indianapolis (several events were occurring in the area) to avoid having to pay for parking we enjoyed an otherwise flawless event.

This was my first Tuxbro managed event and I was very pleased with the whole thing.  The event was the Turn Up the Volume to BLAST Ovarian Cancer with all proceeds benefiting Ovar’Coming Together a local Ovarian Cancer awareness organization. Over $18,000 was raised by participants in the 4 mile run, 3 mile walk and 1 mile walk.

All three events began and ended at Victory Field which is a great venue for a race and for sports fans in general.  We were not allowed on the field but could walk through the seats and be right next to it.

The 4 mile course began with an out and back down West St before heading towards Circle Center, then turning to go past the RCA Dome.  The rest of the course was through the industrial area just west of downtown making a big square.  The 3 mile walk was the same course minus the first little out and back and the 1 mile walk was the first little out and back only.  The entire event was staged so that no group interfered with another and the 1 milers were still finishing when I finished.  The run was the only scored event and racing chips were used!

Overall the course was flat with a couple of small grades that wouldn’t be noticeable in a car, these were mostly going under the railroads and then coming back up onto the road near Victory Field.  The course had 2 water stops, although the second one was setup but the volunteers were just leaning against the wall.  I’ve been told that at events like this it is the job of the sponsor (Ovar’Coming) to train the volunteers.  No worries since I didn’t want water at the end because I was being chased down and didn’t want to slow up.

I was very pleased with my overall race. I had no expectations coming into it since I had just had a season PR at the Thursday night races.  I wanted to come out and push a little bit so I was excited to have ran a 25:44 (6:26) with mile splits being 6:12, 6:18, 6:38, and 6:34.  This placed me 12th overall and 3rd in my age group! Fellow Anderson runner Mitch Novy won the event in 21:18 (5:19) much to his surprise.  He received a gift certificate to the Athletic Annex.

The overall festival type event was designed to raise awareness of Ovarian Cancer and to honor survivors of the 5th deadliest form of cancer in women.

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