A therapeutic course for breast-cancer survivor
When Carol Chaoui starts the Boston Marathon Monday, she expects Newton’s Heartbreak Hill to be the least of her challenges.
Seven months of breast-cancer treatments, which ended in mid-March, left her little time and energy to train properly. But three weeks ago, the 46-year-old Wellesley resident decided to run, using the number that she had already earned with a time of 3 hours 23 minutes in last year’s race.
Her time this year is likely to be slower, but mentally she feels more prepared than ever for her fourth consecutive Boston Marathon.
‘‘I’m curious as to how tired I’ll be, but I’ll be enjoying it. If I’m tired, I’ll just go slower,’’ said Chaoui, who under normal circumstances runs a blistering pace, roughly 6 minutes 30 seconds per mile, in 5K races.
Even if the tall, willowy Chaoui has to walk some of the way, tomorrow’s Marathon will represent an athletic triumph after her stage 3 cancer diagnosis last July. In her bright yellow Boston Athletic Association jersey and pink ribbon pin that she wore when she ran during her treatments, she wants to show others that it’s possible to stay strong and keep moving through extreme adversity.
Behind her every step of the way will be her husband, Amin, a radiologist at Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. He finished the Boston Marathon in 2007 and 2008, but was planning never to run another — until Carol thought she would be unable to this year.
‘‘I decided I would do it once again, for her, since there has always been a Chaoui running the Marathon for the past several years,’’ said Amin, who went for a run with Carol on their first date.
At the Boston Marathon, the couple will not be running together, as Carol will be starting in the first wave and Amin a half-hour later with a team from Faulkner. They are both raising funds for the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center at Faulkner, where Carol was diagnosed. As of midweek, they had raised more than $7,100.
Cheering from the sidelines in Wellesley will be their four children, ranging in age from 7 to 15.
‘‘Carol’s participation is an inspiration to our entire family and we hope it will give courage to the women who have to go through a diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer,’’ said Amin. ‘‘We hope it helps them realize that life continues and that there will be a happier time ahead.’’
Before Carol was diagnosed, she was a dedicated runner who typically logged up to 45 miles a week. At road races of all distances, she regularly finished near the top in her age group. After she underwent a mastectomy in August, she was ready to run a few weeks later.
On Sept. 26, just after her first cycle of chemotherapy, she ran the 5K Komen Massachusetts Race for the Cure, a fund-raiser for breast cancer research. She managed to place third in her age group, with a time of 22:23.
After that, she said, ‘‘I was convinced that participating in races, especially fund-raisers for cancer, would be so inspirational and would really help me stay positive.’’
At the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women in October, she decided to remove the bandanna she wore to cover her hair loss. ‘‘I ran the last mile completely bald and it was really liberating. Joan Benoit gave me a high five at the finish line,’’ she said.
Dr. Eric P. Winer, the breast-cancer specialist who treated Carol and prescribed her chemotherapy at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said running helped her in many ways.
‘‘As an athlete, she entered treatment in far better physical condition than most people, and it is hard for me not to believe that this helped her get through it more easily,’’ he said. Running also provided her with ‘‘another focus in her life, and was likely a major stress reducer, which also helped her tolerate therapy.’’
A friend and training partner in Wellesley, Patti Sears, said that Chaoui inspired her. ‘‘She never ceased to amaze me. Through all the treatments, she continued to find races for us to run. We would be doing a training run and she would say, ‘Hey, Patti, I found another race for us to run.’ I would be thinking, you have got to be kidding me, but how could I have an excuse when she sounded so excited! She challenged me every day to never give up.’’
However, Chaoui still wondered whether she could handle running Boston this year.
Then she and Amin ran a half-marathon together in Quincy last month, and she decided to tackle a major portion of the Marathon route the following weekend.
‘‘After I did 20 miles by myself, I thought I could do 26 with other people,’’ she said.
On her race jersey tomorrow, Chaoui also plans to wear an emblem for Tedy’s Team, the American Stroke Association fund-raising group led by former New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi that she ran with in years past.
Her hair has grown back enough for her to give up the pink bandanna. When she grows tired, one of the phrases she will silently repeat to herself will be a chant she learned during the Komen race: ‘‘I am the cure.’’ Her run will exemplify that.
For details on the Chaouis’ fund- raising effort, visit www.firstgiving.com aminchaoui1.
Clara Silverstein is a 2008 Boston Marathon finisher and freelance writer from Newton.
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