Last winter, while many people daydreamed of the beach, Brendan Swan, 30, hit the gym six days a week. He was training to run three miles.
Usually, it doesn’t take such long preparation to run such a short distance. But after losing his right lung and part of his left to cancer, Swan, who lives in Ukrainian Village, had to rebuild his health. “When I started, I couldn’t even run a quarter-mile,” he explained.
These won’t be three ordinary miles. Swan’s first race in recovery will be the Livestrong Challenge, the signature fundraiser of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports cancer survivors nationwide. More than 10,000 people will run, ride or walk in the event this fall in Philadelphia; Portland, Ore.; and Austin, Texas, hometown of Armstrong and the foundation. Swan will run in Austin Oct. 13.
The challenge is a mecca for cancer survivors, but there’s something more that unites these amateur athletes: a sense of personal connection with Armstrong himself.
Said Swan: “I kind of think we [Lance and I] are kindred spirits. When Lance won [the Tour de France] for the first time in 1999, I was undergoing chemo.”
For Swan, crossing the finish line will affirm his recovery, just as the tour victories confirmed Armstrong’s. “I have no doubt I’ll run a marathon someday,” he said. “I won’t win it, but I’ll complete it. To me, that will be conquering cancer.”
Corey Ringhisen, 28, of Wrigleyville, will pedal his first 100-mile bike race in the Portland event Sept. 30 as part of the Challenge. Ringhisen hasn’t had cancer, though the disease runs in his family. For him, the race offers a way to support Armstrong’s activism.
“He hasn’t backed down,” Ringhisen said. “There are so many celebrities who jump on the trendy cause for a year or two and then forget about it. But Lance has stayed with it.”
Ringhisen wants to make the race an annual pilgrimage. Swan’s eager to commune with other cancer survivors at the race. Both are fundraising assiduously.
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And there’s a chance that both, on race day, will shake the hand of the most famous survivor of all.