In December 2007, Laurel Aikin was training for the Boston Marathon. She had qualified at the Ottawa Marathon that year, with a time of 3:41.She came home from a run and, while drying off after a shower, the 48-year-old found a suspicious lump on her breast. It turned out to be an uncommon form of cancer, one that would require two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.

But Aikin was determined not to let cancer get in the way of running Boston, a dream event for runners.

"Doing the running and going to Boston was something to look forward to. In my case, it was a blessing. I love to run and that's what I wanted to focus on," she said.

Aikin was a latecomer to long distance running, participating in her first marathon in 2003. She took up running as a "mom's time-out" from working full time and raising her two children with her husband.

For Boston, she wasn't able to do the kind of training that she had for other marathons. "I didn't have the energy to do the 36- or 38-kilometre runs. My longest was a 32-kilometre run." And she skipped cross-training entirely. "But (running) helped me get out of the house and feel the sunshine on my face, and keep everything in perspective."

Her doctor helped schedule her chemotherapy treatments around the big run date. It was not easy - the run took 4:45 to complete - but it was an "awesome" experience.

Today, Aikin is in remission, running strong, training for a repeat performance at the Ottawa Marathon and easing back into work at the Okanagan Spring Brewery in Vernon, B.C.

"I want to go back and do (Boston) again, on my ‘normal' terms," she said.

Read more:
Making Tracks — Bill Nielsen
Where Few Heart Patients Go: The Full Marathon — Tony Zaremba