Couple will run to raise canine cancer funds

Marathon running has been enjoying steady growth since the first "running boom" in 1975, when an estimated 25,000 people participated. Today, that annual number is nearing the half-million mark.

The growth can be attributed in part to the success of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, which provides training programs, coaches, transportation, accommodations and the camaraderie of a group with a goal, in exchange for raising money to fight blood cancers.

The link between achieving a physical goal and helping a charity is powerful. It adds spiritual, emotional and intellectual meaning to an effort that otherwise is a self-centered endeavor.

That added value can make a difference in someone's motivation to endure the pains of training and the brutal last miles of a 26.2-mile endurance test.

Raising money and awareness for a cause via a personal physical challenge is getting easier and becoming more common, thanks to Somerville, Mass.-based Firstgiving and its site, firstgiving.com.

I was alerted to the site when a former colleague of mine, Matt Owen, delivered a pitch to me that only an ex-newspaper writer could. It had so many angles I didn't know which one to take. So I took them all.

Matt and his wife, Kelly, have become avid runners and are training for their first marathon, the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, on June 21. They chose Alaska because it's on their "must-visit" list and, like many marathoners, they wanted to make their race part of a vacation.

But they also wanted to do something to honor a special member of their family.

On Valentine's Day last year, one of their two beloved white boxers, Anfield, started to get sick. He developed a huge mass on his chest. They took Anfield (named for the soccer stadium in Liverpool, England, where Matt grew up) for a series of tests and biopsies, which revealed he had canine cancer. He underwent chemotherapy, but swelling in his throat was so severe that Anfield had difficulty breathing. They had to euthanize their 7 1/2-year-old dog on March 1.

"It happened so quickly," says Matt.

Besides losing an old friend, Matt and Kelly got a crash course in canine cancer, which is becoming more prevalent as dogs live longer lives. They learned a lot about the disease from the National Canine Cancer Foundation's Web site and decided to use their marathon as a way to raise money for the organization.

Before anyone jumps to judgment on canine cancer vs. human cancer, the foundation notes that research for curing cancer in dogs is being used to combat the disease in humans. In fact, the foundation says the entire genome of the dog has been mapped, and that opens up new research opportunities for humans.

That's important to Matt and Kelly, too, because three of their grandparents died of cancer. Kelly also was diagnosed with melanoma in her leg six years ago. Luckily, the cancer was in its earliest stages, but she now runs in long sleeves and pants to protect her from the sun.

The final part of this endeavor, to date, was Matt's enthusiasm for Firstgiving's site.

The site is among a new breed of Web sites devoted to doing good by providing people with the ability to create a Web site without either being a webmaster or hiring one. Others include SixDegrees.org, Impact.MySpace.com and GiveMeaning.com.

In the case of Firstgiving, it lists 10,000 nonprofit organizations for people to choose from, sends the money directly to those organizations and charges a fee of 7.35 percent of each donation for their services.

Matt says he set up their site (firstgiving.com/alaska) in about two hours, including uploading photos and video of Anfield, about 10 days ago. As of Tuesday morning, they had raised more than $1,400.

"I think it marks a change in how people can or will fund raise," says Matt. He then joked, "I think the days of bake sales and car washes could be numbered."

Reach David Quick at 937-5516 or dquick@postandcourier.com.