12 races in dad's memory

A month before former TV weatherman Keith Nichols lost his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma on Jan. 27, 2008, he talked to his only child about his appreciation of and respect for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

"He wanted to get more involved with it and with Team in Training," Kristen Nichols Voyer, now 27, recalls of the conversation they had at Christmastime. "I told him, 'I promise you I'll do everything I can to help this organization.' "

In fall 2008, Kristen and husband Bryon Voyer took their first step. They signed up with the society's Team in Training group to prepare for the Myrtle Beach Marathon, to be held Valentine's Day 2009.

Neither Kristen nor Bryon, who was close to Keith, had run a marathon before. In fact, Kristen adds that she never pondered running more than a 5K.

"I never thought I'd be 'a runner' because I'm not one of those people who gets a weird high off of it," says Kristen, an attorney who works 50-70 hours a week. "But running the marathon turned out to be a really wonderful experience."

Kristen and Bryon ran together and raised a total of $5,400 for the leukemia society.

Just getting started

"At that point, I had swallowed the Kool-Aid and decided to sign up for the Nike Women's Marathon," says Kristen, drawn to the fact that the San Francisco race raises money specifically for the leukemia society.

At Nike, she raised $3,600 in an event that netted $18 million for the society, but it meant more to Kristen in several other ways.

"Nike Women's was more emotional than Myrtle Beach, in part, because of the numbers of people wearing purple singlets. There was purple everywhere," Kristen said of the signature color of the leukemia society.

Running with three other women who trained with her, Kristen was suffering between miles 24 and 25 when she heard a song special to both Keith and Kristen that they played on a shared iPod before entering The Citadel's Summerall Chapel minutes before her wedding ceremony started.

"I know this is cheesy, Lifetime-network-kind-of-stuff, but it was Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin',' " says Kristen. "At that point in the marathon, we were running up a rise on the Pacific Coast Highway taking turns griping. We had entertainment and music all along the course, but of all songs to be played right then and there, it was that song. ... It was almost eerie."

That wasn't the only time Kristen and others have felt her father's presence.

On many runs, she feels his presence with a comforting breeze when she is hot or the sight of sun rays shooting through clouds when she's feeling uninspired.

Barbara Halpern, a Team in Training coach who recently moved to Raleigh, recalls when Kristen was struggling to finish a 20-mile training run prior to Myrtle Beach. Halpern says, "It was a cold, rainy day and she was having a hard time. Suddenly, the sky cleared and a rainbow appeared. We felt like her father was with her."

For many people, running a couple of charity marathons might fulfill a departed loved one's request, but not for Kristen.

12 half-marathons

The woman who never envisioned doing more than a 5K and suffered through training runs and marathons wanted to do more.

Specifically, Kristen plans to run 12 half-marathons in 12 months in the hopes of raising at least $10,000 for the leukemia society. Hopefully more.

"All of the money I raise will go to the leukemia society. I'm using my own money to pay expenses and devoting most of my vacation time to it," she says, noting that she's dubbed the effort 254K for My Dad Keith for the total number of kilometers she'll be running.

Her feat, however, was supposed to start last month, but was postponed due to the weather when a rare Lowcountry snowfall canceled the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon. The cancellation, however, seemed to work out for the best.

The kickoff half turned out to be Sunday's inaugural Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando, Fla., which Kristen says is appropriate because her father loved Disney World. The final half will be Myrtle Beach in February 2011, which is good because she's trying to recruit runners to participate with her. And Myrtle is closer than most places.

She's already getting support for her effort from TrySports in Mount Pleasant and Primetime Fitness on Sullivan's Island.

Besides Disney on the front end and Myrtle on the back, other half-marathons she's scheduled to do include the Palmetto on April 10 in Columbia; Marine Corps Historic on May 16 in Fredericksburg, Va.; Charity Chase on June 5 in Hickory, N.C.; and Rock 'n' Roll on Sept. 5, which would have been Keith's 60th birthday, in Virginia Beach, Va. She's pondering cool weather halfs in San Francisco and Minneapolis in July and August.

Kristen's mother, Beth Nichols, is not at all concerned about Kristen's endeavor and is confident that she'll complete it.

"I think this is terrific, but she's been great all her life, so I'm not the least bit surprised," says Mrs. Nichols. "I do know how thrilled her daddy would be that she is doing something he couldn't do but wanted to."

Reach David Quick at dquick@postandcourier.com.