Training program gets cancer survivors back on their feet
Erica Mantell had never gone more than a few days without running. But while she was a senior at Ohio State, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and the cross country runner’s life and sport were put on hold.
Amid chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant, one of the hardest things for Mantell was being unable to run. She struggled to get motivated to run even after she entered remission.
“I didn’t have my teammates, I didn’t have the camaraderie, I didn’t have any of that anymore,” said Mantell, 26, of the Northwest Side.
Now, four years into survivorship and a medical student at Ohio State, Mantell has found a new team in Cancer to 5K.
Cancer to 5K, a program through the Ulman Foundation, is a free, 12-week training program designed to introduce or reintroduce cancer survivors to physical activity. It is open to all regardless of age, treatment status or physical ability. The program has teams in 14 cities across the country; this is the second year Columbus has had a team.
Survivors train and race alongside volunteer “sherpas” with the goal of completing a 5K race together.
The Columbus Cancer to 5K team has 20 participants, half of whom are cancer survivors. The team began training in August for Sunday’s Allstate Hot Chocolate 15/5K. Robby Simpson and Claudia Herrington, the team’s husband-and-wife coaching pair, said the program is one way survivors can feel empowered after treatment.
“It can be difficult for survivors to understand what fighting looks like in survivorship,” Herrington said, a breast cancer survivor from Blacklick. “It becomes more comfortable when you have a group.”
Workouts are approved by participant’s doctors, and everyone is encouraged to push themselves as much their bodies will allow, Simpson said.
Mantell said the team has been both a motivation to stay active and a tight-knit community, especially among fellow adolescent and young adult survivors. Almost 70,000 adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 39, are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. each year, accoring to the National Cancer Institute.
Cancer to 5K teams are an alternative for some cancer survivors to more traditional support groups, said Amanda Kesler, the program’s coordinator with the Ulman Foundation, which don’t always meet the needs of this demographic.
“Sometimes, you have 18- and 19-year-old patients treated at pediatric hospitals,” Kessler said. “They feel isolated, they want to know they’re not alone and they just want to go chill with someone who really knows what is happening to them.”
David Horn, 59, of Bexley, ran as a volunteer for the second time this year as a way to raise awareness for adolescent and young adult cancer patients. Horn’s two sons were both diagnosed with testicular cancer as teenagers.
“It’s so great to see these young people celebrating their physical independence,” Horn said.
Herrington said that regardless of whether participants have a direct tie to cancer or not, volunteering is a gift to the sherpas and a benefit to the survivors.
Through her involvement with the team, Mantell said, she’s found a new outlet to advocate for young adult cancer patients and survivors.
“I’ve already received so much support, now I can be the one to give out,” she said.
Finishing her 5K in just over 31 minutes, Mantell said she doesn’t have to run fast anymore to feel accomplished.
“Last year, I really pushed myself,” she said. “But this year it was just more meaningful to run with the group.”