Their mission to out run cancer
‘‘It wasn’t exactly running, it was more like a shuffle. I cried and cried. I’m not sure if it was happiness, or tiredness.’’
And she ran everyday in the ward for the next 10 days until she was released.
Not long after leaving hospital, she faced the severe ups and downs of hormone treatment.
‘‘The biggest learning curve for me was for four years I was running for Caroline and I had supported Yasu and I thought I knew cancer but it’s such a mental game.
‘‘I had always been in control and suddenly I wasn’t.
‘‘I was okay with cancer being part of the ‘Vanessa brand’ when I didn’t have it and supporting everyone else who did. It was hard to be the one with it. And I did not want it in my brand.’’
Running became her coping mechanism and in 2017, Yasu surprised her with airline tickets to New York, to compete in another marathon.
She had been accepted to compete in 2016, before her cancer diagnosis.
She was joined by some running friends from Japan, as well as Kate Fisher, her brother’s partner who had flown to New York from Auckland to compete.
She finished, without walking, at 4 hours and 17 minutes, just 45 minutes off her best time.
‘‘I cried at the end like you wouldn’t believe.’’
She is now trying her best to learn how to live with cancer.
‘‘Running has been a huge saviour. There is all that ‘take it easy, you had cancer’, but maybe you need to push yourself to get strong again.
‘‘So I am back to, ‘I can outrun it’. I am out running the side affects and down days.’’
She has started her own company and is looking forward to her next big steps.
On her bucket list is competing in the Athens Marathon with her eldest son, and her first New Zealand marathon, with her parents cheering her on.
She is also returning to New Zealand in March for the Mata- mata College Centenary, where she plans to meet up and run with Caroline.
‘‘Caroline used to say, your running helps me so much. I thought she was just being nice. How much difference could I make?
‘‘I now get it, the fact people are with me, that I am not alone is so comforting and provides strength to out run cancer.’’