Emotions flow
Runners' hearts honor friends, family in two cancer races
The runners in Saturday morning's two cancer races wore their hearts on their sleeves, and on their chests and on their bib numbers, too.
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Many of the runners wore red paper hearts clipped to their shirts, and each heart told a story -- the story of someone who'd battled breast or prostate cancer.
While Kelly Flathers of Huntington Beach, Calif., won the 10th Annual "Beat the Odds" Women's Race Against Breast Cancer and Juneau's John Bursell claimed the Sixth Annual Prostate Cancer Run/Walk for men, the real story of the two races was told in those little red paper hearts.
"This run's for you, Mom."
"Love you, Mom."
"Uncle Pete."
"Grandma Mac," worn by each of four young girls who appeared to be sisters or cousins.
Some hearts had as many as eight names written on them, and some runners had more than one heart. Others had just a single heart with one first name -- "Agnes," "Kelly," "Terry," "Bryn," and a couple of women wore hearts with the word, "Me."
Bryn Nelson lived in Juneau for 17 years before moving to Spokane, Wash., last week. Her pre-race talk discussed her battle with breast cancer, and she stressed the importance of regular mammograms and self-examinations so breast cancer is detected early while it can still be treated.
"Breast cancer is an exclusive club, but we don't want any more members," Nelson said before the roughly 700 women started off on their five-kilometer (3.1-mile) run or two-mile walk at Mendenhall River Elementary School.
Terry Gonwa had participated in five previous "Beat the Odds" races, but this year's event struck closer to home since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March. Gonwa, whose heart had several names in addition to the word "Me," walked the short course with her daughters Anna, 8, and Addie, 5. Gonwa has been undergoing chemotherapy since she was diagnosed.
"I want to do it for them," Gonwa said as she hugged her daughters close to her. "I've met so many people who've had breast cancer and it's inspiring to see all these survivors who've been able to live a long time after getting it. When I was first diagnosed, I thought it was a death sentence. But an event like this makes people more aware, and I'm not so afraid because I can see all these survivors."
Eunice James-Lee's heart said, "Helene Rose," the name of her mother. She said her mother was a breast cancer survivor, before dying of other causes. She said this is the only race she does each year, and the reason is to support cancer awareness.
"You see everybody," James-Lee said. "There are so many people, so many you know."
Ken Hoff wore the name of a coworker, Walt Adams, who was just diagnosed with prostate cancer six weeks ago. Hoff said Adams caught his cancer early, had surgery, and is already back at work.
"I did my best time, too," Hoff said. "I'll give him my bib number and my heart. I'm grateful for this run. This is my third year. My first year I wore my uncle Tony's name, and my second year I ran for my mom, Tillie. She's a 20-year breast cancer survivor in 2002."
"This is the sixth year I've walked it, since I've had a hip replacement," said Greg Pease, whose heart in the prostate cancer run honored his father Larry Pease and friends Dean Guaneli, Mike Miller and Bob Newton. "This is the kind of thing it takes to raise awareness and make sure everyone has PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests by the time they turn 40. The rate of recovery now is about 100 percent with early detection. I get checked every month because of my father and I've had high PSA counts."
Some runners chose to honor family or friends with other forms of cancer with their hearts. Michael Fleischhauer honored his brother Pete, who died of lymphatic cancer.
"It was great inspiration," Fleischhauer said. "I've got him right here (points to his head). I don't know if I could have run this well without him there."
In the men's prostate cancer race, Bursell and Shawn Miller rekindled their set of running duels this summer, but this time Bursell won. Bursell covered the men's 5K running course in 16 minutes, 13 seconds, with Miller following in 16:26. Rounding out the top-five finishers were Don Eagle in 17:39, Brian Goettler in 18:16 and 15-year-old Josh Laramie in 19:21.
Earlier this summer, Miller hung off Bursell's shoulder, then passed Bursell to win the Douglas Island Half-Marathon and the Douglas Two-Miler. This time, Miller's strategy didn't work and Bursell was able to hold off Miller's late charge.
"He was right behind me and I was remembering the half-marathon," Bursell said. "This time I was in better shape and I picked a better pace."
"He got me this time," said Miller, who returns to Western Washington University's cross-country running team on Sept. 13. "It was a classic, John and I out there in front of everybody again."
A local sports medicine doctor, Bursell said helping raise awareness about the two cancers is the real importance of the races. So is promoting early detection.
"Both of these races are great," Bursell said. "Adding this (the prostate run) to the 'Beat the Odds' run really makes this an event."
In the women's race, Flathers won by a convincing margin, despite taking a wrong turn and having to vault a fence to get back on the course. Flathers said she probably added 45 seconds in extra distance with her wrong turn.
Flathers, who is visiting Juneau with former Douglas resident Paul Pusich, still won by nearly two minutes as she posted a time of 18:49. Flathers and Pusich will be running in the Klondike "Trail of '98" International Road Relay from Skagway to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory next weekend, as will hundreds of other runners from Juneau.
JoAnn Quigg took second place in 20:45, followed by Colleen Jones in 21:03, Shelly Saviers in 21:05 and Michele Schindler in 21:16. Kim Rivera (21:25), Debbie Groves (21:31), Marlene Hansen (21:36), Sharon Fisher (21:44) and Deborah Rudis (22:05) rounded out the top-10 finishers.
"I've had friends of friends, but Jamie (Bursell) asked me if I could wear the name of her friend," said Flathers, who wore Bryn Nelson's name on her heart. "This is why we're out here. I wouldn't have run it otherwise. There are lots of great women out here."
Quigg didn't wear a heart with Nelson's name on it, but she said Nelson was in her thoughts as she ran.
"I haven't been running this summer, long story," Quigg said. "I wasn't going to run today, but then I heard Bryn said she was going to be one of the guest speakers. Bryn was my neighbor. There are a lot of families out here. It's a scary thing."
Complete results from the two 5K runs will run on Tuesday.
Charles Bingham can be reached at cbingham@juneauempire.com.