Blanchard resident will be running across the country, 4,000 miles for cancer

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    This summer current University of Maine junior psychology major Marie Miller, a resident of Blanchard and a 2011 Foxcroft Academy graduate, will be running in the 4K for Cancer. For Miller the 4K will not be a distance of four kilometers, but rather 4,000 miles as she will be part of a group of college students spending a month and a half running from San Francisco to New York City to raise monies for the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.

    For Miller, the connection to the cancer community began when her grandfather “Papa” was diagnosed with esophageal cancer when she was 12 and he passed away several months after being diagnosed. Several years ago Miller’s other grandfather, “Grampie”, also passed away from cancer.
    “I also have multiple other family members and family friends who are currently living with, or have fought off the disease,” she said. “My connection to the cancer community is becoming larger as I get older. Unfortunately, cancer has made an impact on almost every person I know, as cancer doesn’t just affect the individual diagnosed, but countless family members and friends as well.”
    “My best friend, he did it last year and he really liked it,” Miller said about how she first learned of the 4K for Cancer. She said she soon learned more about the run across the country, and became a part of the New York Running Team which is made up of about 30 college and graduate students ages 18-25.

Photo courtesy of Marie Miller

    RUNNING CROSS COUNTRY — Blanchard resident Marie Miller will be taking part in the 4K for Cancer, to benefit the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, as she and a team will run from San Francisco to New York City this summer.

    “What I’ve learned through my experiences and the stories of others, is the extensive toll cancer takes on the bodies of individuals, not only physically but mentally as well,” Miller said. “Life-altering events such as cancer often changes an individual’s ambition and psychological well-being, as well as their family and friends’.
    “When dealing with such a difficult matter, comfort, support and encouragement and a positive network of others becomes one of the best things anyone could ask for. I am running to provide this encouragement, comfort and support, in hopes to help as much as I can in making the experience of individuals and their families affected by cancer even a little bit better!”
    “I am training kind of like you would do for a half marathon,” Miller said. “I am doing 30 miles a week and I am going up to 50 miles a week.”
    She explained she and her teammates will not each be running the entire 4,000 miles, but instead will be going from the west to east coast relay-style. “There is a van that goes along with us, and we pair off — we never run alone,” Miller said, about the process of the van dropping the running duo off and then the two getting back on later in the day.
    The New York Running Team will average about 100 miles a day. “Individually it could be eight miles a day to 26 miles a day,” Miller said. “I would say I am going to do an average of 10 miles a day, it could be less and it could be more.” She estimated she may end up running a mileage total in the 300 to 400 range over the course of 49 days.
    After several days on the road will be a rest day. Miller explained rest days will include service events, visiting hospitals, delivering scholarships to young adults who have dealt with cancer and volunteer work. The trip lodging and food are provided by donors to help keep expenses to a minimum so funds raised can go toward the cause.
    “We leave San Francisco June 14 and we run back into New York on Aug. 1,” she said. “The weather does not stop anything,” Miller said, saying her running team’s non-stop route will head across the northern portion of the U.S. “One of the highlights near the end is we get to go through the Niagara Falls area.”
    Miller said in 2015 three teams will be taking part in the 4K for Cancer, with her squad running an inaugural route, another running to Baltimore and a third group going from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean via bicycle.
    The 4K for Cancer — which in 2014 brought in over $1 million — is part of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, an organization dedicated to providing support, inspiration, education and encouragement to young adults affected by cancer. Miller, and her teammates and members of the other two teams, are raising funds for their excursions and donations for Miller can be made at http://4kforcancer.org/profiles/marie-miller/ or to 4K for Cancer 921 E Fort Ave, Ste 325 Baltimore MD 21230. Contributions can be made in the name of someone, such as a friend or loved one affected by cancer.
    Recently, Miller’s website said $3,100 has been raised toward a goal of $5,000. The site lists many of Miller’s contributors, such as area residents, anonymous friends, and businesses. “I have been sending out thank-you cards and thank you’s on Facebook,” she said.
    A spaghetti supper and Chinese auction to benefit Miller’s fund-raising efforts is scheduled for Friday, April 3 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Goodwill Riders Snowmobile Club on Route 9 in Hampden.