For two Dana-Farber staff members, marathon was a runner's high

Taking a quick break to pose at Mile 14 are DFMC runners Miranda Hooker, Meredith Freese, Brianna Harris, and Sasha Barajas. 

Had April 20 been a "normal" Monday, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute colleagues Sasha Barajas and Brianna Harris might have been working together on a clinical research protocol aimed at improving the lives of cancer patients. That day, however, they joined forces to fight the disease in a slightly different fashion: With their feet.

Harris and Barajas ran the entire 113th Boston Marathon® side-by-side as members of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team, crossing the finish line together. Like each DFMC participant – including 17 other Institute employees – they tackled the 26.2-mile course to raise money for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber. Celebrating its 20th year, the Marathon Challenge has already generated more than $39 million for the Barr Program and this year is aiming to raise a record $4.85 million.

"It was a tremendous day," says Barajas.

For this pair of first-time marathoners, their Hopkinton-to-Copley Square trek was a way to honor those close to them with cancer as well as the patients and families they help every day. Their accomplishment was also a physical affirmation of their friendship, which began at a DFMC planning meeting last fall and grew through months of training together.

"It's funny, we had been working on the same projects for a while before we ever met, and it turned out we live a few blocks away from each other," explains Harris, a clinical research coordinator in Medical Oncology focused on multiple myeloma and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. "We run at exactly the same pace and trained together three or four times a week leading up to the marathon."

Harris (left) and Barajas rehearsed their finishing line poses before they ran the race. 

Their workouts included long weekend jaunts with dozens of other runners from the 562-member DFMC squad and Training Advisor Jack Fultz (the 1976 Boston Marathon® men's champ), but it was the countless weekday mornings that they met on the corner of Harvard Street and Commonwealth Avenue to pump out a few miles before work which really tested their mettle and cemented their bond.

"It makes a whole world of difference when its 5:30 a.m., cold, dark, and you know somebody else is getting up to run with you," says Barajas, a human research coordinator who leads a team of fellow employees in the Office of Human Research Studies in assisting and advising Hematology Oncology investigators. "We really learned how to push and support each other. A week before the race she sent me an email saying she didn't want to run, but I wrote back: 'C'mon, it will be over before you know it. You ARE running.'"

Plenty of motivation

Both athletes had supporters cheering them on during the race who found their efforts especially meaningful. Barajas' mother, Linda, is a six-year breast cancer survivor who made the trip down from Maine with Sasha's dad. Along the course, Barajas kept in mind family friend Conny Lafrance, who is currently battling esophageal cancer.

Harris' father, Timothy, was diagnosed with kidney cancer two years ago, and flew in from California with Brianna's mother for a check-up at Dana-Farber. Both attended the race, too, but they were not the ones screaming loudest for Harris.

Before the big day, Harris met up with Kylie Farhadi, 3, her patient partner. During the race, Harris would pause to hug Kylie at Mile 25. 

At the Mile 25 point on the Beacon Street overpass leading into Kenmore Square, 3-year-old Kylie Farhadi was waiting. Farhadi is currently undergoing acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment in the Jimmy Fund Clinic, and was paired with Harris through the DFMC Partner Program, which matches runners with pediatric patients.

"It was really great seeing Kylie and her family at Mile 25," says Harris, who also visits them when they come to Dana-Farber for weekly chemotherapy appointments. "They were cheering with pom-poms and waving as we went by. Kylie and her mom called me after the race and Kylie said 'Did you see my pom-poms? They were blue! Good job!' It was adorable.

"I think she was just as excited as I was, and her mom gave me a huge hug, which made me feel like I was actually doing something meaningful for them. It definitely helps get you through the last mile. I just kept telling myself, if this 3-year-old can fight cancer, I can run this marathon. My fight lasts one day – or a few hours. Hers is daily."

– Saul Wisnia
Saul_Wisnia@dfci.harvard.edu 

Learn more about the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge 

View photos from the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge 2009  

View an audio slideshow of Barajas
This was photographed and produced by Boston University student Margo Roy, who followed Barajas through her marathon experience.